Navy Deletes Humiliating Rifle Photo, But Screenshots Are Forever

The United States Navy really stepped in it on social media Tuesday.

Now, I want to be clear that I have nothing but great respect for our big and beautiful Navy. One of my closest friends is a naval officer, and I have another close buddy who spent a long time on SEAL Team 6.

Nobody loves the military more than I do, but I also get paid to call balls and strikes. It's the nature of the business, and the Navy humiliated itself with a truly wild social media post.

The Navy posted a photo on social media platforms of a man getting some firing time on a rifle, but there was just one problem. The weapon's optics were on backwards and appeared to still have the cap covers on.

Fortunately for all of you, I was savvy enough to grab a screenshot knowing it would come down amid nonstop roasting on X and Instagram. Give it a look below, and hit me with your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

Navy deletes embarrassing photo. (Credit: Screenshot/United States Navy)

Navy deletes embarrassing rifle photo.

Unfortunately for the Navy, I wasn't the only person to notice before the post was deleted. Plenty of other people had reactions.

On top of the optic being on backwards (I still can't believe this is real), the man has the butt of the rifle riding up his shoulder like he's never even used it before.

The craziest part of this is that nobody involved seemed to realize the optics were on backwards. Not the shooter, not the people around him, not the person who took the photo and not the people who posted it.

How is that possible? How is it possible every single person in the process got it wrong?

Having said all that, make no mistake about it, folks. Our Navy is still the most dominant in the world by a massive margin, even if it does embarrassing stuff like this. Our submarines and aircraft carriers are in a league of their own, and Navy SEALs are some legit dudes. We'd still wipe the floor against any other Navy in the world, but let's learn how to properly shoot a rifle before blasting it out to the world. Let me know what you think at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.