Marine officer who blasted leaders over Afghanistan withdrawal now in the Brig
“All our son did is ask the questions that everybody was asking themselves, but they were too scared to speak out loud.”
UPDATE: $2.2 Million Raised for Defense of Marine in Military Detainment After Criticizing Afghan Chaos - October 4, 2021
by Jeff Schogol, TaskandPurpose.com, September 28, 2021
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, the Marine officer whose meteoric rise to internet fandom began with a video criticizing military leadership over Afghanistan, is currently in the brig, his father told Task & Purpose.
“All our son did is ask the questions that everybody was asking themselves, but they were too scared to speak out loud,” said Stu Scheller Sr. “He was asking for accountability. In fact, I think he even asked for an apology that we made mistakes, but they couldn’t do that, which is mind-blowing.”
He said that his son is expected to appear before a military hearing on Thursday.
“They had a gag order on him and asked him not to speak,” the senior Scheller said. “He did, and they incarcerated him. They don’t know what to do with him.”
After this story was first published, the Marine Corps issued a statement confirming that Scheller has been sent to the brig.
“Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. is currently in pre-trial confinement in the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune pending an Article 32 preliminary hearing,” said Capt. Sam Stephenson, a spokesman for Training and Education Command. “The time, date, and location of the proceedings have not been determined. Lt. Col. Scheller will be afforded all due process.”
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Scheller first gained notoriety on Aug. 26, when he posted a video on Facebook and Linkedincriticizing the handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. In the video, Scheller accused senior military leaders of shirking their responsibilities, and questioned some of the command decisions that were made leading up to, and during, the final moments of America’s longest war.
“People are upset because their senior leaders let them down, and none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying, ‘We messed this up,’” Scheller said in the video.
Stu Scheller Sr. described his son as a proud American who loves the Marine Corps and has served proudly for the past 17 years.
“He’s asking for the same accountability that is expected of him and his men,” Scheller Sr. said.
The younger Scheller published his first video on the same day that a suicide bomber attacked Hamid Karzai International Airport’s Abbey gate, killing 11 Marines, one sailor, and one Army special operator. Scheller said in the video that he had a “personal relationship” with one of the fallen service members, but he did not elaborate.
The next day, Scheller posted on Facebook announcing that he had been relieved as battalion commander for Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at School of Infantry East at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Since his first video, Scheller has been the subject of both tremendous praise and severe criticism in the military and veteran community. Some saw a battalion commander and an infantry officer who was risking his career to voice frustrations over a long-mismanaged and oft-forgotten war. But others saw an officer who broke with established norms by criticizing his chain of command publicly, and in so doing undermined good order and discipline.
However, Scheller Sr. said the “botched” withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan has likely struck a nerve for anyone who has served in the military over the past 20 years.
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