About 8,000 US troops are deploying to secure evacuations from Kabul

[Lowenstaat]

LTC has balls of steel. Semper Fi.

LTC Scheller just verbally resigned his USMC commission today.

"I don't need a single dollar. I just need every single person that's willing to go back outside the wire every single day to wear a blue-collar and just go into work every single day and feed their families. Those are the people that I need. Follow me and we will bring the whole f***ing system down. I am honorable and you can ask any Marine who served with me for 17 years. I dare you to ask them all and find out what I'm made of. We're just getting started."

Do you think this is just his resignation video? Do you think he's calling for mass resignations/separations across the U.S. military? Or is this his version of a "Fight Club" statement?

[GDS_Starfury]

hes unhinged from reality.

[Jarhead0331]

It's OK to love the Marine Corps, but you can't expect it to love you back.

[Dammit Carl!]

I think we're looking at the blossoming of another swinging dick on the "outrage grift," train.

-his wording of "follow me and we'll take it down," smack of a political run at the very minimum - or some kind of rotating guest spot at FOX, OANN, etc. to spout the typical bits before publishing a book and the like.

Note: To be fair, this is my take and it's based off of nothing more than an exceedingly jaded world view.  I hope I'm wrong and will gladly eat my words if so. 

[Jarhead0331]

^or maybe he is a man of honor who is standing by his oath at great personal risk?

LtCol Stuart P. Scheller graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelors in accounting.  He began Officer Candidate School in January 2005.  After completing Officer Candidate School, The Basic School, and Infantry Officer Course, he checked into 1st Battalion, 8th Marines in December 2005.

After checking into 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, and assuming the duty of platoon commander, LtCol Scheller conducted a deployment on the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.  He participated in the Non-Combatant Evacuation of American citizens out of Beirut during the 2006 Israeli/Lebanese conflict.  Then the following year, he was assigned the role of Alpha Company Executive Officer and deployed to Ramadi, Iraq.  Of note, during that time the infantry companies moved to a four infantry platoon construct, so LtCol Scheller, in addition to his Company Executive Officer duties, was also the Fire Support leader, and also served in this capacity during a Mojave Viper and the Ramadi deployment.

In 2008 LtCol Scheller checked into the School of Infantry East, Infantry Training Battalion.  He spent six months as the Weapons Instructor group OIC, and a year and a half as the Echo Company Commander.

In 2010 LtCol Scheller sought out an Individual Augment deployment to Afghanistan.  He was the Counter-IED team leader for the organization JIEDDO. He spent a year in Paktika and Ghanzi provinces while supporting the Army's 101st Infantry Brigade.  He was the infantry subject matter expert for EOD and Route Clearance Platoon operations.             

From July 2011 to June 2012 LtCol Scheller attended resident Expeditionary Warfare School.

Following Expeditionary Warfare School, LtCol Scheller augmented Officer Candidate School as a platoon commander for a 10 week class.

In September 2012 LtCol Scheller checked into 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines and served as the Company Commander for Headquarters and Service Company.  During this Company Command tour, he completed the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit deployment.  Following the deployment, in November 2013, LtCol Scheller assumed the duty as Weapons Company Commander.  During his Weapons Company Command tour, he completed an Infantry Training Exercise and a Unit Deployment East.

In August 2015, LtCol Scheller checked into The Basic School.  During his three year tour, he served in many capacities, to include Operations Officer, Company Commander, and Warfighting Director.

In July 2018, LtCol Scheller attended resident Command and Staff College where he earned a Masters in Military Science.

In July 2019, LtCol Scheller checked into Marine Special Forces Command and assumed the duties as the Executive Officer of 2nd Support Battalion.  Of note, the Battalion Commander spent the majority of the tour deployed on a Special Operations Task Force, allowing LtCol Scheller the opportunity to lead the battalion stateside.

In June 2020 LtCol Scheller checked into 6th Marine Regiment and assumed the duties as Operations Officer.  During this time the Regiment supported four battalions and completed a Service Level Training Exercise.

In June 2021 LtCol Scheller checked into the School of Infantry East, Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, as the commanding officer.

[Dammit Carl!]

^or maybe he is a man of honor who is standing by his oath at great personal risk?

Very well could be, but like I said, my opinion. 

[GDS_Starfury]

or maybe he's just a person that lost his way.
just because someone had a distinguished career doesn't mean they're saints and are immune to being stupid.

[Jarhead0331]

or maybe he's just a person that lost his way.
just because someone had a distinguished career doesn't mean they're saints and are immune to being stupid.

Lost his way how? Not a "saint" how? Being "stupid" how? What evidence do you have to suggest that his motive is anything other than sincere concern for his brother and sister marines?

All he has done is spoken his mind and demanded accountability from his superiors. The only consequence has been to effectively end his own career. He obviously feels pretty strongly about his opinion, which is based off of his observations and firsthand experiences from a 17 year career.  He isn't the only officer who feels this way.

I think it's peculiar that you have the need to attack his credibility or motive, particularly in light of the circumstances that led to him expressing his views. Why exactly is that?

Would I personally have gone about communicating this message in the same way? Probably not. But from his videos it sounds like he considered all options and advice, and like I said, it was clear he no longer wanted to effectuate change from the inside. Either way, I'm smart enough to know that I'm not in a position to judge, or rush to judgment. His bio earns him the benefit of the doubt at a bare minimum.

[Tripoli]

I respect and admire Lt Col Scheller for what he has done.  I believe he is correct in that there needs to be accountability for what has happened in Afghanistan.  For no reason other than this [correct] belief, he sacrificed his career.  I find that admirable.  While acknowledging that the effect of his action on the Washington DC bureaucracy was in keeping with Otter's comment in Animal House "... this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part", I believe it needed to be taken, if only to show that there are some officers who put the national interest above their careers, and to hopefully inspire a movement to demand accountability for the utter mis-management of the situation.

Note to Jarhead: I'm really trying not to delve too deeply in R&P issues here, so at this point I will sit down and shut up.  :)

[Jarhead0331]

I respect and admire Lt Col Scheller for what he has done.  I believe he is correct in that there needs to be accountability for what has happened in Afghanistan.  For no reason other than this [correct] belief, he sacrificed his career.  I find that admirable.  While acknowledging that the effect of his action on the Washington DC bureaucracy was in keeping with Otter's comment in Animal House "... this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody's part", I believe it needed to be taken, if only to show that there are some officers who put the national interest above their careers, and to hopefully inspire a movement to demand accountability for the utter mis-management of the situation.

Note to Jarhead: I'm really trying not to delve too deeply in R&P issues here, so at this point I will sit down and shut up.  :)

Thank you. I'm struggling with the same predicament.

Appreciate your efforts.

[Sir Slash]

I also will try to not make this political but I'm sorry if I fail at it. I saw Jake Sullivan on Chris Wallace's show yesterday essentially saying abandoning Bagram Airfield was totally the call of the Military and not the Administration, NEVER mentioning the fact it was the Administration who limited the number of troops available to accomplish the mission assigned to it. I felt this was VERY shallow and a deliberate attempt to shift possible blame onto the Military for the terrible scenes to follow as the evacuation comes to an end.

[GDS_Starfury]

or maybe he's just a person that lost his way.
just because someone had a distinguished career doesn't mean they're saints and are immune to being stupid.

Lost his way how?uummm how about losing faith in his chain of command Not a "saint" how? dunno Being "stupid" how? sinking a career with one video is pretty representative What evidence do you have to suggest that his motive is anything other than sincere concern for his brother and sister marines? I never said or implied that he wasnt sincere or didnt have concern for his fellow Marines so stop trying to put words in my mouth I never spoke. lawyers...  O:-)

All he has done is spoken his mind and demanded accountability from his superiors. The only consequence has been to effectively end his own career. He obviously feels pretty strongly about his opinion, which is based off of his observations and firsthand experiences from a 17 year career.  He isn't the only officer who feels this way.

I think it's peculiar that you have the need to attack his credibility or motive, particularly in light of the circumstances that led to him expressing his views. Why exactly is that?  why is it that you think I attacked his credibility or motive when I did neither?  I just posited that the guy lost his shit for a minute, theres no deeper dive into his backround, character or motives at all.

Would I personally have gone about communicating this message in the same way? Probably not. But from his videos it sounds like he considered all options and advice, and like I said, it was clear he no longer wanted to effectuate change from the inside. Either way, I'm smart enough to know that I'm not in a position to judge, or rush to judgment. His bio earns him the benefit of the doubt at a bare minimum.

[Sir Slash]

Last plane's out. Thank you ALL who served so honorably in America's, and the rest of our allies, longest war. 

[GDS_Starfury]

a little over 700 flights to get 122000 people out is pretty good all things considered.

[solops]

Afghanistan - FUBAR