The U.S. Strategic Command — one of 10 unified commands in the U.S. Department of Defense, which focuses on strategic deterrence and nuclear operations — tweeted and then deleted a joke about dropping bombs to ring in the New Year on Monday night.
The tweet read, “#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball … if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger.”
It also included a video showing a B-2 bomber dropping weapons, according to the BBC.
What kind of maniacs are running this country? pic.twitter.com/0glVs2ee25
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) December 31, 2018
It was deleted soon after being posted.
In an apology tweet, the U.S. Strategic Command said, “Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste [and] does not reflect our values,” the command tweeted. “We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies.” (The US Military Tracks Santa Every Year — All Because Of A Cold War-Era Typo)
Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies.
— US Strategic Command (@US_Stratcom) December 31, 2018
In addition, a strategic command spokesman told The Washington Post that the now-deleted tweet “was part of our Year in Review series meant to feature our command priorities: strategic deterrence, decisive response and combat-ready force. It was a repost from earlier in the year, dropping a pair of conventional Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) at a test range in the United States.”
The strategic command has the phrase, “Peace is our profession,” in their Twitter bio.