Months of tension over former Thunderbirds commander Lt. Col. Jason Heard’s perceived risk-taking leadership style boiled over in a “physical altercation” in a Maryland bar last September, in which Heard put his hands on another Thunderbird pilot’s neck.

Heard was relieved of command last November after a commander-directed investigation found he “did exhibit aggressive physical contact towards his subordinate," an unnamed member of the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, on Sept. 11, 2017, at an Irish pub in National Harbor, Maryland.