>>188394, >>188395, >>188396, >>188397, >>188398, >>188399, >>188400, >>188401, >>188402, >>188403, >>188404, >>188405, >>188406, >>188407, >>188408, >>188409, >>188410, >>188411, >>188412, >>188413, >>188414, >>188415, >>188416, >>188417, >>188418, >>188419, >>188420, >>188421
But he’s also giving the officers of flying squadrons a way out:
“Colonel, Hegseth has authorized flybys so can I buzz the Empire State Building?” asks some brand-new F-35 pilot.
Now his colonel has an answer: “Sure can sport. Right after you get your invite to the Blue Angels.”
And this Blu Angles flyby gives that CO some extra room to maneuver.
“Ok colonel, but can we at least stop flying 20 miles around that bogus safety exclusion zone near the theme park?”
“Yes, let’s try 5 miles for now.”
And this solves a real conundrum.
Those helicopters flying down the beach got monumental amounts of public support.
Why?
Did those clips really get shared because Joe Public wants helicopters roaring over his kid’s head? Not really.
They resonated because they’re cool as heck, and because absolutely everyone is sick and tired of creeping safety regulations.
Punishing them harshly would have killed morale and resulted in public outrage and would have accelerated the creep of safetyism.
Having the Blue Angels buzz the beach in response to that helicopter flyby does many things at once:
It gives the public cool AF photos.
It gives squadron commanders flexibility and a way out.
It shows our adversaries how talented our pilots really are.