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The Navy quietly yanked a photo from the Pentagon’s official image hub after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a cheeky detail.

The now-scrubbed image, originally posted to the military’s official Defense Visual Information Distribution Service website, featured a sailor wearing a patch reading: “JOIN THE NAVY, SAVE THE BIG BOOTY VENEZUELANS!”


  A photo of a Navy Sailor wearing this patch reading “SAVE THE BIG BOOTY VENEZUELANS!” was posted and deleted to the military’s official image hub.
 A photo of a Navy Sailor wearing this patch reading “SAVE THE BIG BOOTY VENEZUELANS!” was posted and deleted to the military’s official image hub.

The eyebrow-raising slogan — riffing on WWII recruitment posters — was apparently referencing the Navy’s months-long operations in the waters near Venezuela ahead of the Jan. 3, 2026 arrest of the country’s now-former dictator Nicolas Maduro.

Between the text was an image of a busty — and scantily clad — Latina woman serving drinks on a beach to a man in a Navy uniform.

The sailor wearing the patch was fixing an aircraft aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, according to the original DVIDS upload.


  The Navy quietly pulled the photo from the Pentagon’s official image hub.
 The Navy quietly pulled the photo from the Pentagon’s official image hub.

  The sailor was pictured aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford. Xinhua/Shutterstock The sailor was pictured aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford. Xinhua/Shutterstock

The Navy has rules about uniform standards and what service members can slap onto their gear, but unofficial patches have long been a way for troops to inject humor and personality.

The image was quickly flagged by online sleuths and began circulating on social media, drawing laughs — and raised eyebrows — before it disappeared.


  The sailor was seen with the patch on while fixing an aircraft on the USS Gerald R. Ford. ZUMAPRESS.com The sailor was seen with the patch on while fixing an aircraft on the USS Gerald R. Ford. ZUMAPRESS.com

“We are aware of an image containing an unofficial and inappropriate patch circulating online,” the Navy said in a statement to The Post. “The patch in question is not consistent with uniform regulations, which state patches must be conservative and will be reflective of naval aviation professionalism.”

“The content has been removed, and the matter is currently under review.”

So-called “morale patches” — often funny and irreverent — have long circulated among troops in deployed environments, even as official uniform regulations prohibit unauthorized insignia.

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