Fighter pilots say Hegseth’s Signal texts put troops in harm’s way

WASHINGTON − Former F/A-18 fighter pilots say they’re stunned by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth‘s decision to share details of impending airstrikes this month with a group chat on a commercially available texting app.

“It’s appalling,” said Richard Westmoreland, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who flew similar missions over Iraq and the former Yugoslavia.

“This was a tremendous breach,” said Guy Ravey, who served in the Marines from 1997 to 2017, including three tours flying combat missions in Iraq. “I’ve never seen one worse…and at such a high level.”

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Outrage grows over Hegseth Signal texts

Hegseth faces a mountain of criticism after he texted key details of plans to strike the Houthi militant movement in Yemen on March 15, including the exact times airstrikes would begin and what weapons would be used. The messages became public after Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic magazine revealed on March 24 that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz had added him to a chat on the encrypted app Signal with the Trump administration’s top national security officials.

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As outrage grows in Washington over “Signalgate,” Hegseth and other members of the chat, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, maintained that no classified information was shared on the chat. On Wednesday, The Atlantic published a follow-up article with Hegseth’s exact language, which included the timing of the strikes and that F/A-18 Hornet attack jets were carrying the weapons.

“TIME NOW (1144et): Weather is FAVORABLE. Just CONFIRMED w/CENTCOM we are a GO for mission launch,” read one of Hegseth’s messages. “1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts – also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched,” read another.

Despite mounting concerns among lawmakers, Hegseth has continued to deny the information he shared was classified.

“Nobody’s texting war plans,” he told reporters during a trip to Hawaii on Tuesday, calling Goldberg “deceitful and highly discredited.”

‘So reckless’

F/A-18 pilots vehemently disagreed.

“It’s so reckless,” said Amy McGrath, a former Democratic candidate for Senate from Kentucky who served as a Marine pilot in two Afghanistan combat tours and one in Iraq.

Launch times – which Hegseth texted on the chat – are when pilots are most “vulnerable,” she said. “You’re putting your people at risk needlessly.”

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Westmoreland said the information Hegseth shared is “100%” either secret or top secret. “This is not something you’re going to discuss out in the open. It’s not something you’re going to discuss with the maintenance folks.”

“I stake my career on that,” he added.

Another retired 20-year Marine lieutenant colonel who flew more than 150 combat missions said Hegseth’s messages on the Signal chat appeared to come from the air tasking order – the execution schedule of planned missions. That information is always classified – either secret or top secret, he said.

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The retired lieutenant colonel said Hegseth appeared to have added real time updates from a secure Defense Department messaging system – a huge breach of security. He asked to speak anonymously for fear of retaliation.

Matt Holcomb, a 15-year Navy pilot who flew missions in the Middle East and Pacific, said he struggled to understand how Hegseth and others could have failed to verify who was in the chat.

Regardless of whether the information shared was classified, “there’s an operational security issue,” he said.

Ravey said Hegseth, Waltz or other members of the chat should have immediately reported the information “spillage” as soon as it was discovered.

“Those people have failed at multiple levels,” he said.

Potential for Houthis to shoot down pilot ‘very high’

Former pilots said Hegseth’s texts translated to a real-time risk for pilots flying the Houthi strike mission.

“It could have compromised the operation,” said Holcomb.

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A breach of classified information that gave Houthi targets just 20 to 30 minutes of advance notice would have allowed them to prepare air defenses, Westmoreland said. While the Houthis can’t man their air defense weapons “24/7,” the majority of “the game is [knowing] when there’s something likely to happen,” he said.

“The potential to get somebody shot down – very high,” he said.

Iranian support

Former pilots who flew missions in Iraq said the pilots carrying out the Houthi strikes could face a higher level of danger than those on similar missions they flew during the Iraq War.

With military support from Iran, the Houthis have increased their air defense capabilities in recent years, according to U.S. intelligence assessments. Former senior-level national security officials told USA TODAY the information breach couldhave allowed Houthi targets to evade the strikes or attack U.S. troops.

Even among personnel directly involved in operations such as the strikes on the Houthis, information is carefully restricted to those with a need to know, according to former pilots. The information pilots receive as they prepare for a mission is the culmination of days, weeks, or even months of intelligence gathering and logistical planning.

Mishandling national defense information is illegal under the Espionage Act. For members of the military, a breach of classified information is cause for dismissal and, in some cases, serious charges. Jack Teixeira, an Air National Guard member who leaked classified information online, was sentenced to 15 years in prison last November.

“Everybody who’s given access to classified material is taught from day one how to handle it, how to store it, and how to safeguard it,” Ravey said. “We know that the consequences for failing to do so are quite severe, and rightfully so.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Hegseth’s Signal texts a security breach, former pilots say