{"id":358051,"date":"2026-04-01T05:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/358051\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T05:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T05:35:10","slug":"suspension-lifted-for-helicopter-pilots-that-flew-near-kid-rocks-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/358051\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspension lifted for helicopter pilots that flew near Kid Rock&#8217;s home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Army pilots who hovered two helicopters near Kid Rock\u2019s Tennessee home during a training run while he clapped and saluted have had their suspension lifted, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo punishment. No Investigation. Carry on, patriots,\u201d Hegseth said in a social media post.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, a US Army spokesperson said the crews of the two AH-64 Apache helicopters from the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell were suspended from flying, pending an investigation into their actions. The suspension was a discretionary \u2014 but not unusual \u2014 step when an investigation is underway, Maj. Montrell Russell said in statement.<\/p>\n<p>The Army would review whether the flight complied with FAA regulations and aviation safety protocol, Russell said in the statement, which he emailed fewer than three hours before Hegseth&#8217;s social media post. The Army takes \u201callegations of unauthorized or unsafe flight operations very seriously and is committed to enforcing standards and holding personnel accountable,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about Hegseth&#8217;s announcement, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Joel Valdez said he had nothing to add to the secretary&#8217;s social media post. An Army spokesperson didn&#8217;t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Kid Rock, an entertainer who is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, told WKRN-TV that it&#8217;s not uncommon for helicopters from nearby Fort Campbell to fly near his home. He said he is a big supporter of the military, and he&#8217;s performed for troops overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a-military-helicopter-flies-over-a-no-kings-protest-saturday-BY3CQCUI45E7BIPHRUJOP5K6RU.jpg\" alt=\"A military helicopter flies over a No Kings protest Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Nashville\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-hi5x8q-0 cWTYyG image-metadata\">A military helicopter flies over a No Kings protest Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Nashville (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they know this is a pretty friendly spot,\u201d he said. He noted that last Thanksgiving, he was at Fort Campbell, a sprawling Army base on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, with Vice President JD Vance. \u201cI&#8217;ve talked to some of these pilots. I&#8217;ve told them, \u2018You guys see me waving when you come by the house?&#8217; I\u2019m like, \u2018You guys are always welcome to cruise by my house, any time\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kid Rock posted two short videos on social media at the weekend. Each shows a helicopter hovering alongside his swimming pool while the entertainer claps, salutes and raises his fist in the air. One post included a caption by Kid Rock disparaging Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom, a frequent Trump critic.<\/p>\n<p>In the videos, Kid Rock stands next to a replica of the Statue of Liberty and a sign by the pool that reads, \u201cThe Southern White House\u201d. His home on a hill overlooking Nashville was built to resemble the White House.<\/p>\n<p>The helicopters were on a training mission when they stopped by Kid Rock&#8217;s house, said Major Jonathon Bless, public affairs officer for the 101st Airborne Division. The helicopters also flew over a No Kings protest against Trump in downtown Nashville, but Bless said their presence had nothing to do with the protest.<\/p>\n<p>Kid Rock said he thought it was \u201creally cool\u201d that they stopped to hover at his house.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it makes their day a little brighter for their service to our country, protecting us, I think that\u2019s a great thing,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Asked about possible repercussions for the crews, he said, \u201cI think they\u2019re going to be all right. My buddy\u2019s the commander in chief\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Army pilots who hovered two helicopters near Kid Rock\u2019s Tennessee home during a training run while he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,64,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-358051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-north-america","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}