Crisis of Command: A Marine officer’s call for accountability

Professional Military Education

Stuart Scheller served in the Marine Corps as an infantry officer for seventeen years. His five deployments included combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. When he was a Lieutenant Colonel, Scheller served as a battalion commander at the Marine Corps School of Infantry (SOI). In the summer of 2021, U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan. The withdrawal was poorly planned and hastily executed. The Taliban took over the entire country and surrounded Kabul airport. As Marines scrambled to secure the airport, a suicide attack caused the tragic deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers. Frustrated by these events, Stuart Scheller felt compelled to speak out. He made a public video that criticized military leadership. Shortly after releasing the video, he was fired from his job as a battalion commander. He then publicly resigned from the Marine Corps and continued to be critical of both the military and Marine Corps leadership. As a result, he was placed in the brig and court-martialed before leaving the Marine Corps in December 2021. The public nature of his call for accountability stirred a lot of controversy.

In the interview, we discuss his call for accountability as well as the following:

• What motivated Stuart Scheller to join the Marine Corps
• How he became disillusioned with the overall strategy in Afghanistan
• Moral courage and when it’s time to speak up
• What was going through his head as he prepared to make his first public call for accountability
• How the actions of General John K. Singlaub in the 1970s influenced his criticism of General McKenzie
• Stuart Scheller’s contrarian views to include his thoughts on General Mattis
• The movie Black Hawk Dawn, the publication Task & Purpose, and books by Malcolm Gladwell
• Scheller’s current political causes to include his support for Senate candidate Don Bolduc in New Hampshire

Check out the videos: Stuart Scheller’s first video, second video (from the bus), and third video

Stuart Scheller’s website: https://authenticamericans.com/

Follow him on Twitter: @stuartscheller and Facebook

Check out his book: Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America’s Generals and Politicians

Check out my recent article on accountability at The American Mind. Also, my book review of Angelo Codevilla’s book, America’s Rise and Fall among Nations.

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