My speculation is that the photo got modified for public release, and whoever made the edit, probably some photoshop nerd in the office of public affairs, didn’t know anything about firearms and pasted in a backwards scope. Maybe.
I've used Photoshop for countless hours, the only way that could happen is if he did it deliberately.
Well, that certainly is in the FR tradition of not just speculation, but free form hallucinations.
The Navy posted a series of these photos, and the scope was mounted backwards in all of them. Do you think the photos were all “modified” before posting?