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The #intelligence breach was bad enough, current & former #FighterPilots said. But #Defense Secy #PeteHegseth’s refusal to acknowledge that he should not have disclosed sensitive info about when American fighter pilots would attack sites in #Yemen, they said, was even worse.

On #AirBases, in #AircraftCarrier “ready rooms” & in communities near #military bases this week, there was consternation.

The news that snr ofcls in the #Trump admin discussed plans on #Signal, a commercial messaging app, for an impending attack angered & bewildered those who have taken to the air on behalf of the #US.

The mistaken inclusion of the editor of #TheAtlantic in the chat & #Hegseth’s insistence that he did nothing wrong by disclosing the secret plans upend decades of #military doctrine about #OperationalSecurity, a dozen #AirForce & #Navy fighter pilots said.

Worse, they said, is that…they can no longer be certain the #Pentagon is focused on their safety when they strap into cockpits.

“The whole point about aviation safety is that you have to have the humility to understand that you are imperfect…Everybody makes mistakes. But ultimately, if you can’t admit when you’re wrong, you’re going to kill somebody because your ego is too big,”said Lt John Gadzinski, a ret #Navy F14 pilot who flew combat missions from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.

“We intentionally don’t share plans w/people who don’t need to know,” said one #Navy F/A18 pilot, who has flown frequently in missions in the Middle East. “You don’t share what time we’re supposed to show up over a target. You don’t want to telegraph that we’re about to show up on someone’s doorstep; that’s putting your crew at risk.” He & several other current & fmr pilots spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals from the #Pentagon & from #Trump allies.

But then came #Hegseth’s initial response to the disclosures. He attacked #JeffreyGoldberg, #TheAtlantic editor, as a “so-called journalist,” & sought refuge in a semantic argument, saying that he had never disclosed “war plans.”

So on Wed, The Atlantic published the actual text of what he had written.

Hegseth texted at 11:44AM the day of the attack: “1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”

30 minutes before it happened.

#Hegseth added:

“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME).”

This text was two hours in advance of the strikes.

“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package).”

And then, “1536: F-18 2nd Strike Starts — also first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”

That text gave almost three hours’ notice.

Wednesday, #Hegseth called his disclosure a “team update” to “provide updates in real time, general updates in real time” to keep #Trump #NationalSecurity ofcls informed.

But details of #military operations are usually kept so secret that even the service members taking part in them are “locked down.” That sometimes means they are not allowed to speak to others who do not have a need to know, let alone tell people about the plans, the fighter pilots interviewed said.

In #AircraftCarrier “ready rooms,”where flight squadrons spend their time when not in the air, crews burn instructions to destroy them.
“It’s important to understand the degree that #OPSEC is involved in every aspect of your life on an aircraft carrier. Red Sea ops are conducted in complete silence—no one is talking on the radio. Because everything can be heard by somebody,”said fmr #Navy Capt Joseph Capalbo, who commanded a carrier air wing & 2 F/A18 squadrons, referencing operational security.

A fmr #AirForce fighter pilot, Maj Anthony Bourke, added: “When you disclose operational security, people can get killed.” He said that “these things are not taken lightly. I have never met anybody in the #military who does not know this.”

#Hegseth, a fmr #FoxNews weekend host, served as a #NationalGuard infantryman.

Cmdr Parker Kuldau, a fmr #Navy F/A18 pilot, called Hegseth’s disclosures, & subsequent response to them, “infuriating.”

“It’s so beyond what I would expect from anyone in the #military,” said Commander Kuldau, who also flew combat missions in the Middle East. “The idea that the secretary of #defense, who should know better, has done this, is just mind-boggling.”