A Blue Angels pilot has been removed from the squadron after failing to meet the standards expected by the US Navy, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes to reshape the military.
Major Scott Laux will not take part in the Blue Angels’ remaining performances this season, according to the public affairs office for the Chief of Naval Air Training.
Laux performed at San Francisco Fleet Week last month and served as the team’s No. 6 opposing solo pilot.
‘Blue Angel #6 was removed from the team for failing to uphold the standards expected of members of the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron and will not participate in the team’s remaining performance this season,’ CNATRA said in a statement to the Pensacola News Journal.
Officials have not explained the specific circumstances behind Laux’s removal, which was formally recorded on November 3.
His photograph and biography have been taken off the team’s current roster. He was also absent from the squadron’s NAS Pensacola Homecoming Air Show over the weekend.
The Friday and Saturday performances featured five jets instead of the customary six, Fox News reported.
This was Laux’s second season flying with the Blue Angels. He joined the team in 2024, worked as its narrator in 2025 and later moved into the opposing solo role.
Major Scott Laux has been removed from the Blue Angels’ remaining performances this season, according to the Chief of Naval Air Training public affairs office
The circumstances behind Laux’s November 3 removal remain unclear. This was his second season performing with the Blue Angels after he joined the team in 2024
Laux performed at San Francisco Fleet Week last month as the No. 6 opposing solo pilot. The US Navy Blue Angels are seen performing in Florida on October 17
Before joining the Blue Angels, Laux served with Marine fighter-attack squadrons at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The Blue Angels say the Chantilly, Virginia, native logged more than 1,300 flight hours and completed 169 arrested landings on aircraft carriers.
According to his biography, cited by Fox News, Laux graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2012 with a degree in Chinese and earned his wings in 2015.
He flew F/A-18 Hornets with Marine Corps squadrons, deployed to Japan and served aboard the USS Nimitz during three operations as part of its 2020 deployment.
Laux later transitioned to the F-35C Lightning II, working as an instructor pilot before joining the Blue Angels, the outlet reported.
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His honors include Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, along with multiple unit awards.
The outlet reported that this year’s narrator, Lieutenant Commander Ronny Hafeza, could replace Laux as pilot No. 6 in 2027.
It remains unknown whether Laux’s removal resulted from disciplinary action or an investigation of another kind.
Before joining the Blue Angels, Laux, pictured above at right, served with Marine fighter-attack squadrons at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego
Pete Hegseth announced plans to reduce the number of US military generals and admirals by 20 percent beginning January 1. ‘The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in, with testosterone testing on top,’ he told the crowd
The unexplained decision comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threatened last month to overhaul the United States military.
During an address in early October, Hegseth declared that the Pentagon was ‘no longer the woke department or the weak department.’
He delivered the remarks to active-duty officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
‘Simple translation of that: No fatties, no tr***ies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals. Just warriors,’ Hegseth said.
He also announced plans to reduce the number of US military generals and admirals by 20 percent beginning January 1.
‘The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in, with testosterone testing on top,’ he told those gathered.
Hegseth also outlined plans for military chaplains to place greater emphasis on God and less on therapeutic ‘self-help and self-care.’
‘Live your calling. Stand firm. Preach truth. Minister to the flock,’ he told chaplains, while announcing a new policy that would remove rank from their uniforms and identify them instead by religious insignias.
Hegseth’s goal of cutting general and flag officer positions by 20 percent is twice the 10 percent reduction he ordered in a May 2025 memo, prompting criticism.
The proposed cuts would eliminate approximately 170 general and admiral positions.
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