It marks the second time this year that the Pentagon chief has come to the defense of troops involved in maneuvers that triggered scrutiny.
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The Pentagon said Friday that the military has lifted the suspensions of all helicopter pilots involved in a July 4 beach flyover in South Carolina that triggered scrutiny, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth weighed into the matter directly.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, indicated in a social media post that the pilots, members of the South Carolina National Guard, were no longer grounded “effective immediately.”
“Carry on Patriots,” Parnell wrote, echoing comments from Hegseth, who vowed to “fix this” a few hours earlier.
It is unusual for a defense secretary to weigh in on disciplinary matters typically addressed by military commanders in charge of the troops involved. It is unclear how directly Hegseth weighed into this case, but he has done so in the past.
Another Pentagon spokesman, Jacob Bliss, declined to discuss Hegseth’s involvement and said the Defense Department had nothing further to add.
South Carolina National Guard officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Army officials said they had no additional details to provide.
The Pentagon’s announcement came after a viral video showed eight U.S. soldiers flying in four Apache helicopters just a few hundred feet off the shoreline at a July 4 event known as Salute from the Shore. The event runs across numerous tourist destinations in South Carolina, including Myrtle Beach, Charleston Harbor, Folly Beach and Hilton Head Island, before concluding in the city of Beaufort.
Hegseth’s apparent intervention follows similar actions after another low-altitude flyover in Tennessee in late March triggered a similar review of the incident and grounding of the personnel involved.
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In that case, Apache helicopters pulled up at low altitude alongside the Nashville-area home of musician and conservative influencer Kid Rock. Hegseth declared soon after that the suspension was lifted.
“No punishment. No investigation,” Hegseth said then. “Carry on, patriots.”
A few days later, Hegseth forced the Army’s top officer, Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George, into retirement. The general favored letting commanders complete their investigation into the Kid Rock flyover, people familiar with the matter previously told The Washington Post. It’s unclear whether George’s ouster was directly tied to the incident.
The South Carolina flyover was captured in viral videos that showed the aircraft making low passes over beachgoers, some waving to or cheering on the soldiers.
The South Carolina National Guard acknowledged the suspension on Thursday evening after it was reported in local media, stressing that it was temporary in nature and that commanders were “aware of the public feedback” about the pilots being grounded.
“We want to assure the community that a temporary suspension from flight duties is a routine administrative measure whenever a flight profile is under review,” the Guard said in the news release. It added that the organization held its aviators to “the highest standards of professional conduct and aviation regulations,” and the Guard’s top priority is the “the safety of our personnel and the communities we fly over.”
Early in Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon, an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a passenger jet on approach at Reagan National Airport near D.C., killing all 67 people involved. The federal government later accepted liability in the case, saying that Army aviators failed to see the jet in time and Federal Aviation Administration flight controllers did not alert the jet pilots about the helicopter in time.
Family members of those killed in the crash accused the Army of avoiding accountability and oversight in the case. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll later apologized for the crash during a private meeting with the families.
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