FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA — Kid Rock and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth flew in U.S. Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopters at Fort Belvoir in Virginia on Monday as part of a community relations event for a White House-led initiative called Freedom 250. Hegseth posted photos of himself and the musician at the base on social media Monday night.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the flights supported the initiative, which 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.

Hegseth also posted a photo of the musician speaking to a small group of service members in the Pentagon's press briefing room. "Kid Rock is a patriot and huge supporter of our troops," Hegseth said.

Kid Rock's jet left Nashville early Monday and landed at Fort Belvoir at 6:30 a.m., according to open source flight data. Shortly after 1 p.m., an Apache took off, did a few loops over the base, and landed about 10 minutes later, according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance. The helicopter was part of a group of four Apaches and two H-60 Blackhawk helicopters that arrived at the base Saturday from Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Kid Rock's jet landed back in Nashville shortly after 3 p.m., according to publicly available flight data.

Apache helicopters typically have a two-person crew, with one member focused on managing the weapons system. A passenger would replace one of the crew members, preventing Hegseth and Kid Rock from flying in the same aircraft at the same time. An Apache costs about $7,000 per hour to fly, according to an Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

California Governor Gavin Newsom's office posted criticism of the flights on social media. "Why are taxpayers paying to fly Kid Rock around on $100 million helicopters?" Newsom's office wrote.

Army aviators in March flew the same type of helicopters near the musician's home in Tennessee, passing over a "No Kings" protest against the Trump administration in Nashville. Army officials said the helicopters were on a training mission when they stopped by the musician's house and that their presence had nothing to do with the protest. The Army said it would investigate the March flights, which involved crews from the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, and suspended the pilots involved. Hegseth intervened and shut down the investigation.