A Blue Angels pilot has been removed from the team after failing to meet the Navy squadron’s standards, amid Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s push to reshape the US military.
Major Scott Laux will not take part in the remainder of this season’s performances, 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 performances 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.
Laux joined the Blue Angels in 2024, making this his second season with the team. He served as its narrator in 2025 before moving 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 reason for Laux’s removal, officially announced on November 3, has not been disclosed. He joined the Blue Angels in 2024 and was performing with the team for a second season
Laux performed at San Francisco Fleet Week last month as the No. 6 opposing solo pilot. The US Navy Blue Angels are pictured 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 said the Chantilly, Virginia, native had logged more than 1,300 flight hours and completed 169 arrested landings on aircraft carriers.
According to his biography, reported 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 in its 2020 deployment.
Laux later transitioned to the F-35C Lightning II and worked as an instructor pilot before joining the Blue Angels, the outlet reported.
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His honors include two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals, along with several unit awards.
The outlet reported that Lieutenant Commander Ronny Hafeza, the team’s narrator this year, could replace Laux as the No. 6 pilot in 2027.
It is not known whether Laux’s removal resulted from disciplinary action or another type of investigation.
Before joining the team, Laux, pictured above right, served with Marine fighter-attack squadrons at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego
Pete Hegseth said he 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 audience
Laux’s unexpected removal comes after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last month that he intended to overhaul the United States military.
In early October, Hegseth declared that the Pentagon was “no longer the woke department or the weak department.”
He made 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 generals and admirals in the US military by 20 percent starting January 1.
“The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in, with testosterone testing on top,” he told the gathering.
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 unveiling a policy that would remove their rank from their uniforms and identify them instead through religious insignia.
Hegseth’s 20 percent reduction target for general and flag officer positions is twice the 10 percent cut he ordered in a May 2025 memo, drawing criticism from opponents.
The proposed reduction would eliminate approximately 170 general and admiral positions.
