This is what a broken military culture looks like. And this is what fixing it looks like.
On July 4th, four AH-64 Apache gunships from South Carolina’s Army National Guard flew a spectacular patriotic flyover along the entire South Carolina coastline as part of the state’s 250th anniversary celebration. The crowd went wild. The videos went viral. Americans watching from the beach cheered their lungs out at the sight of the world’s most capable attack helicopters honoring the nation’s birthday.
The moment the pilots landed back at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, they were suspended.
Not for a safety violation that caused harm. Not for a genuine breach of airspace rules that endangered anyone. For a flyover that made Americans feel proud — and that someone in the chain of command apparently decided was worth torpedoing eight military careers over because strangers on social media were unhappy about it.
