As part of the celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary of its founding, South Carolina held a "Salute from the Shore" event that featured a military flyover that stretched the entire length of South Carolina’s coast. One of the flying elements, four AH-64 Apache gunships from the South Carolina Army National Guard's A Company, 1st Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment, based at McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, South Carolina, proved to be a crowd-pleaser. And as we know, in our current society, the quickest way to be targeted for annihilation is to be overtly patriotic, overtly Christian, or to have fun.
More video can be seen at 0:30 in this clip.
Here was my perspective. pic.twitter.com/0EsCdxAD8J
— the last (@Dronetakeoff0) July 11, 2026
As soon as the flight touched down at home station, they were hit with a suspension for unspecified flying violations. My colleague Nick Arama has the full story, including the part where Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told the humorless drones who seemed to be running scared in the face of social media commentary to calm down and focus on winning wars; see South Carolina National Guard Suspended Apache Pilots for Beach Flyover - Then Hegseth Stepped In – RedState.
There are several parts to this story.
The first is that the allegations that the helicopters were violating federal law or something seem to be utter trash. Though I must admit, I do find it amusing how many 43-follower X accounts pop up and claim to be authorities on the subject. This is the view from one of the Apaches furthest from the beach.
Here’s another perspective of the badass flyover of the Grand Strand. This is shot from one of the other Apaches.
— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) July 10, 2026
We fly wherever we want, damnit! God, I love this country! ❤️🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/tRjgxC3GA0 https://t.co/IhMNPyrnjD
Even without the video, the idea that four aircrew would risk losing their wings over a stupid stunt isn't credible. I do not know this particular episode beyond media accounts, but I wouldn't be shocked to find the battalion commander was leading the flight. Whoever led it was sure to have some experienced warrant officers flying with him who wouldn't, as a group, buy into an illegal stunt...on camera.
Pete Hegseth wasn't alone in demanding the suspension of the pilots be lifted.
The men and women who pilot the world’s most sophisticated aircraft are trusted to do so around the globe; in times of imminent danger and peril. Surely, they know how to safely navigate the coast of South Carolina — and her scores of cheering residents and tourists on our 250th…
— Gov. Henry McMaster (@henrymcmaster) July 10, 2026
The men and women who pilot the world’s most sophisticated aircraft are trusted to do so around the globe; in times of imminent danger and peril. Surely, they know how to safely navigate the coast of South Carolina — and her scores of cheering residents and tourists on our 250th anniversary.
The entire incident was a social media affair that stampeded a gun-shy, scared-of-their-own-shadow command group into publicly announcing suspensions without the semblance of an inquiry. Unfortunately, this has become the norm in the military.
Military justice exists solely for the maintenance of good order and discipline. Period. Finito. End of statement. By the same token, a mindless adherence to rules makes everyone hunker down and do nothing. In Herman Melville's "Billy Budd, Foretopman," the central character is condemned to death, despite his innocence, because discipline demands it. The concept is best demonstrated in this scene from the 1977 epic war flick, "A Bridge Too Far."
The setup is that First Sergeant Eddie Dohun (James Caan) has pulled a pistol on the Division Surgeon (Arthur Hill) to make him examine Dohun's critically wounded commander after the surgeon had pronounced him beyond treatment. After surgery, Eddie surrenders to the Division Surgeon:
Hegseth inherited a spiritually broken military that was more interested in quotas, genitalia, deviant sexual practices, feelings, and DEI than it was in training to fight and win the next war.
Had Hegseth let the suspensions stand, he would have destroyed his own mission to bring warfighting back to central focus. A military that is scared to make mistakes is also scared to succeed. If the chain of command fears criticism and investigations more than failing, you are guaranteed failure. There is an exceedingly fine line separating highly trained combat units from a rabble, on the one side, and useless drones on the other.
That said, the same flock of cretins who were waiting to criticize Hegseth for disciplining high-spirited warfighters was also prepared to criticize him over his decision to end the suspension. Just as he was criticized for pulling proponents of the Lloyd Austin military off promotion lists, he would've been damned as a hypocrite if he'd left them there.
By putting the brakes on a public condemnation of the pilots by their chain of command to, in my view, try to appease the worst elements on social media, Hegseth strengthened his own hand in the fight to recapture the military from the Left. In a way, it was a win-win for him because his haters were going to hate him no matter what he did, and by acting forcefully, he sent a message that the days of knee-jerk punishments in reaction to a social media frenzy are over.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy RedState's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member