Defense secretary says Russian pilots are being unprofessional, need to 'knock it off'

Brett T. | 9:11 PM on April 28, 2016

President Obama was busy Wednesday, dropping by #CollegeReporterDay to say hello and then spending 38 minutes with adoring student journalists — and no, it’s not just us saying that.

Obama crashes college students' briefing at the WH. Some hearts fluttering in the first row. pic.twitter.com/lAdvC4GTDL

— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) April 28, 2016

Defense Secretary Ash Carter had a tougher day ahead of him, appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure our troops in combat have the resources they require to fight.

https://twitter.com/yancelot/status/725816956960415744

The Washington Free Beacon reported that Carter also addressed recent taunts by Russian pilots, who have in recent weeks buzzed a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic Sea and executed a barrel roll over a U.S. surveillance plane after approaching within 50 feet.

Russian Warplane Flies Within 50 Feet of U.S. Spy Plane in Asia | The Washington Free Beacon | https://t.co/HnBJE9jkaZ

— Jägarchefen (@Jagarchefen) April 28, 2016

That sounds dangerous, an impression Carter himself confirmed Thursday:

On the recent buzzing of the [guided missile destroyer USS Donald] Cook, Carter said “it is unprofessional behavior, and whether it is encouraged from the top, whether it was encouraged from higher up or not I can’t say.”

“But we do expect it to be discouraged from higher up from now on,” he added. “These pilots need to get the word, ‘Hey, knock it off. This is unprofessional. This is dangerous. This could lead somewhere.’”