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A Cry from the Heart from a Real American Hero
Powerline just posted this video by Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, a Batallion Tank Commander on active duty, the posting of which is easily one of the most courageous acts of American citizenship I have seen, especially in this sad era of pusillanimity posing as “leadership.” Here is the Powerline intro followed by the video; I am hastening to put this video out because, as they so correctly point out, it may not last more than a few minutes.
Addressing “the American leadership,” Marine Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller has posted the video below to his Facebook page. Making a point I have made repeatedly in my comments on our withdrawal from Afghanistan, Lieutenant Colonel Scheller seeks accountability from senior leaders. Obviously made at substantial risk to himself, it is a powerful statement that is likely to be suppressed before long. Perhaps he himself should have resigned from the Corps before he made it. I don’t know.
A reader writes to point out that “Marine leadership is as of yet unaware of it – but they will figure it out shortly.” Watch it while you can.
"I have been fighting for 17 years. I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders, I demand accountability." – Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller on the failures in Afghanistan that led to American servicemen dying. pic.twitter.com/JPH3nTctrG
— David Hookstead (@dhookstead) August 27, 2021
It is sheer bravery and courage like Col. Scheller’s which helps fortify my deep belief in the permanence of the American experiment. With Americans like Col. Scheller, how can we lose?
Semper Fi!
God Bless Col. Scheller and God Bless America!
Published in General
His patent application:
https://pdfaiw.uspto.gov/.aiw?PageNum=0&docid=20200101706
He and his coinventor appear to be acting as their own attorneys.
I don’t agree with this assessment. Nothing wrong with his approach in terms of the result he is shooting for and it is a certainty that he knows and understands what will happen and why. This is an individual man’s decision. He knows what is right. Corruption is pervasive and this includes his CoC(Chain of Command and Commander in Chief).
It was drilled into us at Marine OCS and TBS to use the chain of command. Both up and down it. If he’s got problems then he should go to the colonel or general above him. If he doesn’t get satisfaction, then he can go over their heads. If he doesn’t get satisfaction along the chain of command, then resign – and then go public as a private citizen.
You can’t have officers spouting off about what they think of the leadership above them without doing damage to morale, whether justified or not. One thing that always impressed me about Marine NCO’s is they would show proper military respect to the junior officers above them even when it was clear a particular officer wasn’t very good. That’s part of being a professional. It communicated to their unit that they respected the Corps and the chain of command, and that its about the organization, not any particular individual or set of individuals. Now that the colonel has let every one know publicly what he thinks of the leadership above him, why can’t private Jones let fly with what he thinks of Lt. Smith? There goes your unit discipline.
I had an opportunity last week to visit the NCO and O-Club (as I am a member) at a AF Base and Army Base close to me. This was before the poop really hit the fan. I commented about it here on Ricochet ( https://ricochet.com/1031744/the-utter-ridiculousness-of-bidens-latest-kabul-evacuation-effort/#comment-5713655 ). I can only image the conversations going on now.
I think you are having a real problem realizing that there is a difference that we are facing today. The Chain of Command is irretrievably corrupt and the established forms designed to maintain morale and discipline are broken. What is held up as leadership is there to tear down the good system to which you have been committed.
This post says what we all need to understand about where we are at this time with our political leadership and why patriots are not those who stick with the program “just because they have been indoctrinated”.
No Quarter
I agree with you. The answer is resignation, not abusing the chain of command.
We don’t agree on how to respond. A prime method of Communism is to spread chaos so established response mechanisms fail.
And this just in from The Daily Wire . So now the word is going out through the rank and file, to include civilian employees and retirees, to keep their mouths shut. I say this:
“Active duty and retired naval intelligence officers may not disrespect Biden over Afghanistan debacle.” Yes. I well remember when they said exactly the same Sort of thing about disrespecting the commander-in-chief when Donald Trump was president.
Oh wait…..
So this bunch, at least, is saying that retirement does not give you the right to speak freely. Can that be true?
Far be it from me to tell grandma how to suck eggs, but I had a flashback (on the way home from buying a bottle of gin, so take it for what it’s worth) to a conversation with the late Mr. She, at least a couple of decades ago on the difference between the oath of office and the oath of enlistment.
As I understand it, an officer swears allegiance to the Constitution, and not additionally to (as an enlisted man does), the President.
Mr. She explained why, but I’ll let the Marines do it themselves (emphasis mine):
I’m in no way saying that LtCol Scheller should not have been relieved of his command for criticizing his superior officers for not exercising their own oaths of office. In fact, I’ve said here and on a couple of other posts, that completely understand why he was.
But it seems to me that this provision anticipated exactly the sort of rot that seems endemic at the highest ranks today. And that while LtCol Scheller may have violated the letter of military law and has to suffer the consequences of his actions, he’s got the spirit of it about right.
Article 90 was created in light of Nuremburg, when Germans defended themselves on the grounds that they were ordered to shoot civilians and Jews, and incidents like My Lai, when junior officers ordered atrocities. It makes clear that things like that are unlawful orders and should not be obeyed. This was explained to us when we joined.
It’s not a protection from incompetent and self-serving leadership. That’s par for the course, and the disgrace unfolding in Afghanistan is, unfortunately, not all that unusual, going all the way back to the Revolution (c.f. Horatio Gates). It’s amazing we won that war at all given all the political infighting and incompetent, self-serving leadership. The Civil War should have been over in 1862 given the relative military and economic strengths of the North and South, but the Union Army was unfortunately rife with generals of no military competence appointed for political reasons, or generals like McClellan who had their own political agendas. Our invasion of the Philippines in WW2 had little military logic to it, and was done so MacArthur could fulfill his “I will return” promise and film himself walking on to the beach. I won’t even get into Vietnam.
There is no evidence that Biden or the military leadership is issuing unlawful orders or trying to use the military to take over the country. They are just incompetent and self-serving to an unusual degree. Anyone who cannot tolerate that should never join the military, either now or ever in the past. We win wars because soldiers, sailors and Marines keep fighting in spite of the bad leadership and the useless deaths that follow.
I don’t think anyone here standing by Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller and supporting his action thinks he should or would be supported by his Chain of Command going up and retain his command. We see him simply as a courageous and patriotic American willing to forfeit much of what he has worked to achieve to do the right thing and express his view of the truth and the facts.
As a non-native speaker, I sometimes misapply a saying. This may well be that case. But I see the LtCol’s action as “the exception that proves the rule”. The chain of command must be followed; he understood that; and by breaking that rule, he showed us how dire a situation our military, and country, are facing.
Exactly.