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2021-08-28 Home Front: Politix

Brave young Marine LTC demands senior leaders accept 'accountability' for AFG gets removed from position

[FOX] Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was relieved for cause after demanding that senior U.S. leaders hold themselves accountable for actions made during the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan that led to the deaths of 13 service members.

Officials confirmed to Fox News on Thursday that 11 Marines, an Army soldier and a Navy corpsman were killed in explosions near Kabul's airport Thursday. Another 169 Afghans were killed, according to two officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Scheller, a father of three who has been in the USMC Infantry for 17 years, mentioned senior military leaders including Marine Commandant Gen. David H. Berger, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark A. Milley, whom he said are "supposed to advise."

"I'm not saying we need to be in Afghanistan forever, but I am saying, did any of you throw your rank on the table and say, ’Hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield, a strategic airbase, before we evacuate everyone’? Did anyone do that? And when you didn’t think to do that, did anyone raise their hand and say, ’We completely messed this up’?"

Posted by Besoeker 2021-08-28 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top

#1 He went public and to the press. He should be relieved for cause and booted. He is correct in his statements, but he is not going to get away with public statements questioning the leadership.

Posted by 49 Pan 2021-08-28 00:17|| 2021-08-28 00:17|| Front Page Top

#2 Looks like he's been relieved of duty.

Posted by Rex Mundi 2021-08-28 00:47|| 2021-08-28 00:47|| Front Page Top

#3 Colonel Scheller actually agrees with you, 49 Pan. According to the article

Scheller wrote in a Friday update posted to Facebook that he had been "relieved for cause based on a lack of trust and confidence."

"My chain of command is doing exactly what I would do … if I were in their shoes," he wrote. "I appreciate the opportunities AITB command provided. To all the news agencies asking for interviews… I will not be making any statements other than what’s on my social platforms until I exit the Marine Corps."

He continued: "America has many issues … but it’s my home … it’s where my three sons will become men. America is still the light shining in a fog of chaos. When my Marine Corps career comes to an end, I look forward to a new beginning. My life’s purpose is to make America the most lethal and effective foreign diplomacy instrument. While my days of hand-to-hand violence may be ending … I see a new light on the horizon."

Posted by trailing wife 2021-08-28 00:51|| 2021-08-28 00:51|| Front Page Top

#4 His Commander in Chief achieved that title fraudulently.

Posted by Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 2021-08-28 01:11|| 2021-08-28 01:11|| Front Page Top

#5 I want Justice or more people will die due to gross incompetence of these "leaders".

Posted by Blackbeard Barnsmell6454 2021-08-28 01:14|| 2021-08-28 01:14|| Front Page Top

#6 The man does has a point. Maybe if someone further up the food chain had been willing to go this far, the retreat from Afghanistan would not have been such a mess.

I'm human. I can understand how someone might value position and pension over what we are seeing now. But that does not mean I respect it.

Posted by SteveS 2021-08-28 01:14|| 2021-08-28 01:14|| Front Page Top

#7 He's likely served beyond his 18 year lock-in for retirement at 20 years. He'll never make 06, but perhaps that was never his intent. Retiring as an 05 is not so bad. Somebody had to say it. He was the somebody. He'll sleep well at night and likely go on to a very successful second career.

Meanwhile, the senior leadership in DoD remain silent, going along and getting along.

Hat tip to you LTC Stu. I wish you well.

Posted by Besoeker 2021-08-28 02:03|| 2021-08-28 02:03|| Front Page Top

#8 I'll ask the question again. How many of the GO ranks resigned in protest of the direction of the war from the White House? One thing we do know having lived in the beast is that 'integrity' starts to disappear the higher the rank of the individual.

Posted by Procopius2k 2021-08-28 07:35|| 2021-08-28 07:35|| Front Page Top

#9 Hope he retires to a state with an upcoming Senate opening

Posted by Frank G 2021-08-28 12:34|| 2021-08-28 12:34|| Front Page Top

#10 For Besoeker:

Scheller, a father of three who has been in the USMC Infantry for 17 years,

Could he have served in another capacity before being USMC Infantry?

Yes he could have TW. I suspect he'll be assigned to some obscure position and will be allowed to float his way to sanctuary (18 year lock-in) for retirement at 20 years. Having been selected for battalion command, I'm sure his annual fitness reports (FITREPS) or (Officer Efficiency Reports - OER's in the army) are stellar. Battalion command in the Marine Corps is highly competitive. If for some reason he is brought up on charges and booted from the service, he'll likely still get separation pay (SEP PAY), which could be a nice check. I doubt he'll be booted. My guess is he'll drop his retirement paperwork at the earliest opportunity. He knew the likely outcome, but we've lost a fine officer.

The unspoken downside - this incident is being seared into the brain housing group of every young officer on active duty, Army, Navy, USMC, USAF, the lot.

Posted by trailing wife 2021-08-28 12:49|| 2021-08-28 12:49|| Front Page Top

#11 He did what he expected the senior leaders to do, he called bullshit and accepted the consequences in exchange for his honor.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2021-08-28 13:22|| 2021-08-28 13:22|| Front Page Top

#12 In a 1978 OCS discussion group with a soon to be retired Major General of significant accomplishment during his career, I remember his "silver bullet" anecdote. In the short version, it was that as a GO he had achieved more than expected career goals, and his seniority and visibility gave his actions a certain enhanced visibility. This gave him a single "silver bullet" to use onlyh once, in a career ending act of public disagreement, wherein he could publicly resign/retire because he would NOT support some order or policy that he knew was wrong. It was a way to leave with honor and integrity from a cherished insititution, but also to protect the Army from idiocy by using his one silver round to kill a terrible idea, and by extension, the author of it. WHere is that ethos in the GO ranks today? I

Posted by NoMoreBS 2021-08-28 13:47|| 2021-08-28 13:47|| Front Page Top

#13

to protect the Army from idiocy by using his one silver round to kill a terrible idea, and by extension, the author of it.

I don't recall anything like that ever happening in US history.

Posted by Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843 2021-08-28 15:24|| 2021-08-28 15:24|| Front Page Top

#14 General Mark A. Milley is a Socialist/Liberal/Loser/Lier. For example he lied saying he had a confrontation with Trump in the White House Situational Room. Trump said that never happened because if there had been a confrontation he would have fired Milley on the spot.

Posted by Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 2021-08-28 17:56|| 2021-08-28 17:56|| Front Page Top

#15 Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin used his skin color to snag sweetheart positions on the board of directors for several defense contractors, raking in millions of dollars while encouraging others who complained of white supremacy throughout the US.

Posted by Ebbomoger Speaking for Boskone4589 2021-08-28 18:04|| 2021-08-28 18:04|| Front Page Top

#16 Careerists
Toadies
Grifters

= the US military in the age of woke

Posted by Harry Poodle2248 2021-08-28 18:31|| 2021-08-28 18:31|| Front Page Top

#17 General Milley, please refresh my memory about the punishment visited upon Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman for his slandering of then-President Trump.

Posted by Anomalous Sources 2021-08-28 21:19|| 2021-08-28 21:19|| Front Page Top

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