WASHINGTON (AP) — Kid Rock and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth both flew in Army Apache attack helicopters at a base in Virginia on Monday, a defense official said, coming weeks after military pilots drew scrutiny for hovering near the entertainer's Tennessee home.
Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said the flights supported a “community relations event” for a White House-led initiative, called Freedom 250, that is coordinating events for America’s
250th anniversary commemoration.
“Robert ‘Kid Rock’ Ritchie participated in multiple troop touches with service members and filmed videos for Memorial Day, America’s 250th birthday, and for his Freedom 250 tour,” Parnell said in a statement.
Army aviators in March flew the same type of helicopters near the home of the musician, who is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump. The helicopters also flew over a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration in Nashville, prompting questions about flight safety and whether either maneuver was authorized.
The Army initially said it would investigate the March flights, which involved crews from the 101st Airborne Division at nearby Fort Campbell, and suspended the pilots involved. However, Hegseth quickly intervened and shut down the inquiry.
Army officials said at the time that the helicopters were on a training mission when they stopped by Kid Rock’s house and that their presence had nothing to do with the protest.
Kid Rock's jet left Nashville early Monday and landed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia at 6:30 a.m., according to open source flight data.
Shortly after 1 p.m., a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache took off, did a few loops over the base and landed about 10 minutes later, according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a group of open source data analysts who track military flight activity across the world.
That same helicopter was part of a group of four Apaches, as well as two H-60 Blackhawk helicopters, that had arrived at the base Saturday from Fort Campbell, which sits on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Drop Site News was first to report Monday’s flights in Virginia.
An Army Apache helicopter costs about $7,000 per hour to fly, said an Army official, who like the defense official, spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not authorized for public release.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office took to social media to criticize the flights, saying, “Why are taxpayers paying to fly Kid Rock around on $100 million helicopters?”
Newsom is a sharp critic of the Trump administration and seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.
Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army Ranger, posted on social media: “Why is Pete Hegseth spending your taxpayer dollars to give Kid Rock ‘joy rides’ on Apache helicopters?”
When asked about the costs associated with public events like flying celebrities or military flyovers, military officials typically argue that they help fulfill regular training requirements for pilots and so do not represent an additional cost for taxpayers.
According to publicly available flight data, Kid Rock's jet landed back in Nashville shortly after 3 p.m. Monday.
Apaches typically have a two-person crew who can both fly the helicopter, though one typically focuses on managing the weapons system. A passenger would replace one of the crew members, meaning that Hegseth and Kid Rock would not have flown in the same aircraft at the same time.
