from Hacker News

Signal Chat Leak Angers U.S. Military Pilots

by rl3 on 3/28/25, 5:20 AM with 76 comments

  • by Loic on 3/28/25, 6:51 AM

    For me, the best part of the article, this applies in so many places in life. And of course, I am guilty too.

    “The whole point about aviation safety is that you have to have the humility to understand that you are imperfect, because everybody screws up. Everybody makes mistakes,” said Lt. John Gadzinski, a retired Navy F-14 pilot who flew combat missions from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. “But ultimately, if you can’t admit when you’re wrong, you’re going to kill somebody because your ego is too big.”

  • by rl3 on 3/28/25, 5:52 AM

    It's great to see a retired Tomcat driver interviewed for this article. For those unaware, the F-14 was featured in Top Gun and is an absolutely iconic aircraft that's no longer flying [in the US military].

    That pilot's quote sets the stage in a way that confers an almost timeless quality.

  • by JumpCrisscross on 3/28/25, 6:41 AM

    The wild thing to consider is how entirely fucked we are if we're actually attacked in our current state. It's clear the DoD is rudderless. So is our IC. Our military-industrial complex hasn't gotten the ketamine treatment yet, but that seems to be imminent.

  • by _thisdot on 3/28/25, 5:45 AM

  • by travisgriggs on 3/28/25, 6:09 AM

    Enswampification.

    I’d write a witty blog article about it if I had one.

  • by rl3 on 3/28/25, 7:58 AM

    In keeping with F-14 discussion, this submission just disappeared off the main page faster than the U.S.S. Nimitz going back in time to December 6th, 1941.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Final_Countdown_(film)

    I like to think this development will inadvertently alter the course of history such a way that it manages to make HN less censored.

  • by nickpp on 3/28/25, 7:01 AM

    I wonder how the US military will react when they will be ordered to attack a previously friendly nation like Canada or Greenland, or to help and support a previous enemy like Russia in its wars against Europe.

  • by Jtsummers on 3/28/25, 5:32 AM

  • by ThisRealLife on 3/28/25, 8:30 AM

    Our only ally is Russia and we've got a whistle blower including journalists on classified group chats. I'd imagine any remaining Americans are angry.

  • by kragen on 3/28/25, 5:47 AM

    More trustworthy link: https://archive.fo/cxvG2

  • by Arnt on 3/28/25, 11:32 AM

    Going to kill someone… the messages said there was a spy there, someone who watched a target go into a building (and not leave). Is that spy still alive?

  • by jmisavage on 3/28/25, 2:51 PM

    This reminds me of the old military phrase "different spanks for different ranks". The higher up in the chain of command the less consequences you have.

    Any enlisted person or junior officer would lose their job and face federal charges.

  • by justlikereddit on 3/28/25, 8:13 AM

    "you're going to kill someone"

    Said the guy who flew 15000 miles away from his home to bombe a foreign political figure and his family in his home because of a political disagreement

  • by josefritzishere on 3/28/25, 2:59 PM

    It paints a picture of comically inept stooges running around like Larry, Curley and Moe, bonking each other with ladders, and dropping anvils on each others heads.

  • by alfiedotwtf on 3/28/25, 6:11 AM

    Let’s all be honest with ourselves… if the only difference in Signalgate were the people involved, there would be a different outcome altogether. Anyone in the military would have told you if they were in this situation, they would have been court marshalled by now along with months in prison.

    Put another way, Republicans are the untouchables. They always have been, and as Trump’s Third Term will show - no matter WHAT they do, “what are you going to do about it”!

    Bitch and moan all you want, and downvote me to hell… and then what? And if you’re American, put you perspective in Greenland’s, Canada’s, Mexico’s point of view.

    MAGA hasn’t figured it out yet:

        Today Canada, tomorrow America.
    They’ve figured it out. They won, and now they’re planning on how to carve up the spoils. I’m betting Trump and family gets a huge slice of the pie while MAGA celebrates by proudly goosestepping at his military style birthday parade.

    Good luck America… you used to be cool, but now you’re just the high school bully who’s in his 30s still driving around his mum’s car while looking for kids to beat up for their lunch money:

    “…compile the cost associated and levy them on the Europeans”

  • by esalman on 3/28/25, 6:53 AM

    Trump is such a polarizing figure that people who are actually competent don't really want to work for him (and yes Elon Musk is not one of the competent ones- he is biased at best). He has no choice but to value loyalty over competency. It's a pity.

    He's more unhinged day by day. He's taking big risks. He's betting tariffs will benefit US manufacturing but it's more likely to increase inflation. He's betting crippling universities and NIH/NSF and such will fix science somehow, but in reality it's more likely to drive competent researchers out of US.

    Growing up we considered US government and it's officials as examples putting county above loyalty and wanted our own country's politicians to follow suit. The tables are turned and the highest offices in the US government are following third world country politics playbook.

  • by Sloowms on 3/28/25, 7:31 AM

    This is such a great example of why a lot of main stream press sucks. Who cares about what military pilots think about this? This would only be interesting if they thought it was no biggie.

    If a journalist wants to keep this rolling there are other angles to take. Make a listicale with all the different parts where the law was broken or operational security wasn't followed. Make an article about the people involved and why they were in this group chat. Write about what this means for other classified information.

    They really want to make this into a story of military personnel vs Trumps team so they can avoid saying this is bad.

  • by sandworm101 on 3/28/25, 5:47 AM

    >> Signal, a commercial messaging app,

    A commercial app? I've never sent a complaint to a newspaper but this seems a little much. It is a free and open-source app, not commercial.

  • by mediumsmart on 3/28/25, 5:44 AM

    taken to the air on behalf of something called the United States and worried someone might get killed.

    You couldn’t make this up pre llm hallucinations.