---
title: "State Department Wishes Air Force Happy Birthday With Pic Of Navy’s Blue Angels"
description: "The embarrassing tweet was one in a long line of fails when it comes to official social media messages featuring military hardware."
date: "2020-09-18"
modified: "2020-09-18"
authors:
  - name: "Tyler Rogoway"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.twz.com/authors/tyler-rogoway"
url: "https://www.twz.com/36539/state-department-wishes-air-force-happy-birthday-with-pic-of-navys-blue-angels"
categories:
  - "Air"
  - "Air Forces"
  - "Americas"
  - "Around The Globe"
  - "Naval Aviation"
  - "Navies"
  - "News & Features"
  - "Sea"
  - "U.S. Air Force"
  - "U.S. Homeland"
  - "U.S. Navy"
tags:
  - "73rd Birthday"
  - "Air Force"
  - "Birthday"
  - "Blue Angels"
  - "Department of State"
  - "Fail"
  - "Military"
  - "State Department"
  - "tweet"
  - "twitter"
---

# State Department Wishes Air Force Happy Birthday With Pic Of Navy’s Blue Angels

![](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-twz/content/2020/09/1245d.jpg>)
*www.twz.com*

The State Department made an embarrassing error today when it posted a Tweet congratulating the Air Force on its 73rd birthday. It would be a nice gesture under normal circumstances, but not when the photo posted with the message is of the U.S. Navy's famed flight demonstration squadron, the Blue Angels.

Check out the good-intentioned, but ultimately embarrassing Tweet for yourself:

![message-editor%2F1600444088851-235525235g.jpeg](<https://www.twz.com/wp-content/uploads/content-b/message-editor%2F1600444088851-235525235g.jpeg>)
**Twitter**

The tweet remained on the Department of State's Twitter page for some time before it was replaced with a more appropriate photo of an F-35A:

https://twitter.com/\_/status/1306981369038413832

The truth is that these types of social media [failures involving military hardware](<https://twitter.com/ZaknafeinDC/status/1306534357142827009?s=20>) and [defense issues](<https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/31/politics/us-military-new-years-eve-bomb-tweet/index.html>), both from government sources and high profile non-government ones, [happen often](<https://twitter.com/dave_brown24/status/1183441421531045890>). The latest was a [Trump Campaign fundraiser graphic](<https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/14/trump-ad-asks-people-to-support-the-troops-but-it-uses-a-picture-of-russian-jets-414883>) that featured Russian-built MiG-29s instead of American fighter aircraft with a call to donors to "support our troops."

As far as the State Department, some may be quick to point out that it is not a military institution, but the fact of the matter is it deals directly with military issues on a daily basis, especially the sale of weapons, [including fighter jets](<https://www.twz.com/29490/its-official-trump-admin-sends-taiwan-f-16-deal-to-congress-heres-whats-in-it>), and the proliferation of other military technology to foreign states. It also [has its own air force](<https://www.twz.com/24017/the-u-s-state-department-has-its-own-sprawling-air-force-heres-whats-in-its-inventory>).

As such, publicly knowing the difference between an F-16 and F/A-18 seems *somewhat* important, but whoever was handling the social media channel for such an important government agency not recognizing it was the Blue Angels in the picture, with "NAVY" painted underwing, before publishing a post to the Air Force is an oversight, to say the least.

In the end, no real harm was done, but it sure provided a good Friday morning chuckle, especially for the Navy!

And hey, it's the thought that counts, right?

*Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com*

## Author
Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site *Foxtrot Alpha* before developing *TWZ*, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel>)