Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed Americans will be “seeing and feeling their military” even more after a member of the Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron buzzed a Florida beach at an unexpectedly low altitude earlier this month.

A video of the close shave at Pensacola Beach on July 15 went viral, showing shocked spectators who screamed as the jet whipped past them just feet above their heads, sending chairs and umbrellas tumbling.

“The flyovers will indeed continue until morale improves,” Hegseth said, sparking laughter at a Cabinet meeting at Camp David Friday. “The American people seeing and feeling their military in ways they have not in the past.”

Florida state Representative Michelle Salzman, an Army veteran who spoke with the Blue Angels pilot flying the jet that spooked beachgoers, said it was a miscalculation.

“He didn’t make excuses. He didn’t try to shift blame. He simply talked about the miscalculated a turn, something no pilot ever wants to experience, especially one who has dedicated his life to flying at the highest level of precision,” Salzman wrote in a July 17 Facebook post. “More than anything, he talked about the weight he’s been carrying since that moment.”

Hegseth made his pledge for more flyovers while boasting about the “spirit” of the Defense Department after he gutted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives from the Pentagon.

Shortly after Hegseth was confirmed as defense secretary, he issued a memorandum ordering the creation of the “Restoring America’s Fighting Force,” which was charged with overseeing the Pentagon’s efforts to abolish DEI offices.

Months later, in May 2025, Tim Dill, who was performing the duties of deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness at the time, said, “The secretary's guidance to eradicate DEI in the department was faithfully implemented across all of our many installations.”

Sitting next to President Donald Trump Friday, Hegseth told the press, “When you rip out DEI…and you put in merit, and then you untie the hands of commanders to be commanders, to enforce discipline and accountability, to get back to basics. Then you get historic re-enlistment inside our ranks.”

Hegseth has implemented a series of controversial changes at the Pentagon since becoming defense secretary, including a ban on beards and a review of the definitions of bullying and hazing.

The Pentagon chief’s push to continue the party celebrating America’s 250th birthday with flyovers well after the Fourth of July comes as Americans grow increasingly worried about the Trump administration’s priorities.

A record-high 73 percent of Americans say Trump hasn’t paid enough attention to the country’s most important problems, CNN reported, citing its new poll conducted by research firm SSRS.