The leader of the Blue Angels did not get fired:
(Excerpt FRom The American Spectator. See http://spectator.org/archives/2011/06/01/draft-koss-for-president# for the rest of the story)
“This is what is so admirable about [Commander Dave] Koss. Last week, he resigned from the Blue Angels, the job he spent his entire adult life working toward. In a statement he said he was guilty of “not meeting the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is.”
During the May 22 demonstration at the Lynchburg, VA Regional Air Show, the Blue Angels performed a maneuver in which several aircraft flew below the “hard deck,” the minimally-acceptable altitude. The flight demonstration team immediately ended the remainder of its performance and returned to home base at Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL to immediately commence a “safety stand-down.” No one was injured and no equipment was damaged.
As the squadron’s commanding officer, Koss did what he believed to be the proper and honorable thing. He offered his resignation. It was accepted.”
The fact that Cdr. Koss took responsibility and resigned FRom his dream job tells me that he is a man of honor, a man with the kind of character we sorely need in today’s world. I wish him much success in his future endeavors.
He did do the right thing. I can only guess if he was taken behind closed doors and told to render is resignation, or not. I was told by someone that he was given the choice to resign or be relieved. I was in the military for over 20 years, and I know from personal experience that is sometimes the way it went.
In either case, he is an honorable man, and his job was undoubtedly one of the most demanding and dangerous in the world.