Former Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller reveals he has been discharged from the Marine Corps four months after he criticized Biden's botched Afghanistan withdrawal
Lt. Col. Stuart Sheller, who was court martialed and imprisoned after publicly blasting the Biden Administration's disastrous pullout of American troops in Afghanistan, has announced he has been discharged from the Marine Corps.
The beleaguered former officer took to Facebook to detail the ordeal he has suffered since his blistering criticisms of the botched Afghan exit went viral in August, which saw him thrown in a military pretrial confinement brig for days and fined $5,000.
'I was released from the Marine Corps today, Thursday, December 23rd, 2021,' Scheller wrote in the Thursday post. 'I am filled with mixed emotions. I would like to sincerely thank the Marine Corps for forging me into a man.
'I'd also like to thank the 40K Americans who donated to my foundation while I was in jail,' the former serviceman continued. 'Your support not only paid for my lawyers but will provide stability for my family as I move on to the next chapter in my life. I hope to meet every person who donated and thank them.'
The ex-lieutenant went on: 'I’d also like to thank the thousands of people who called their congressional representative or military leadership on my behalf. Your support was instrumental in enabling my release from the institution.'
'I was released from the Marine Corps today, Thursday, December 23rd, 2021,' Scheller wrote in the Thursday post. The ex-officer went on to claim that he was relieved of his command and slandered as 'homicidal/suicidal' by the USMC's public affairs team
Since his dismissal in August, Scheller, 40, claimed he was relieved of his command and slandered as 'homicidal/suicidal' by the USMC's public affairs team, which leaked his medical records and details of the Corps' investigation into his case to the media.
He shockingly added he was forced to endure imprisonment for days because he was considered a flight risk.
What's more, the now former Marine revealed he received a general discharge, a form of administrative military dismissal that typically occurs when a service member's performance is satisfactory, but fails to meet all expectations of conduct for service members.
It is considered less meritorious than an honorable discharge.
Scheller arriving at his court martial with his legal team in October. He pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor-level violations of military law
Despite his trying experience, Scheller said that he remains grateful for his time in the service.
The US Marine gained notoriety in August when he released a public video ripping into the Afghanistan fiasco that allowed the country to fall to the Taliban.
Dressed in uniform, Scheller slammed military brass for the maneuver in the August 26 posting, alluding that the strategy was indirectly responsible for the the ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul airport earlier that day, which left 13 service members and at least 169 Afghan civilians dead.
'I'm not saying we've got 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?" said Scheller. '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?"'
Scheller was promptly relieved of command the next day, but continued to post more contentious content.
US Marine Lieutenant Colonel Stuart Scheller, pictured with mother Catherine and father Stuart Sr.
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller was jailed in a North Carolina brig Monday for defying orders to stop publicly criticizing US's Afghanistan withdrawal. He has served in the Marines for 17 years
However, in September, Scheller was court-martialed and placed in pretrial confinement for nine days, before ultimately pleading guilty to six misdemeanor-level violations of military law in October.
He then chose to plead guilty to the following six charges: contempt toward officials, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, failure to obey lawful general orders and conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
Scheller, who had said that he was seeking an honorable discharge or a discharge with honorable intent during his sudden court martial, was subsequently hit with a $5,000 and letter of reprimand.
Scheller earned $92,931 a year while employed by the service.
Scheller, who had been silenced by a gag order for the past four months due to the court martial, added in Thursday's post that he is now willing to tell his story, and seeks to embark on a media campaign to shine a light on atrocities he says is being committed by his former employer.
Despite the existence of the gag order, Scheller asserted in the verbose post that he had stayed silent out of respect for his former comrades-in-arms.
'Out of respect to my senior leaders, I haven’t done a single interview since this began,' the ex-officer wrote. But now it’s my turn.
'My television media blitz starts with Tucker Carlson on 4 January. Leading up to my TV interviews, I plan to make a post a day up to the date of my interviews starting with the 26th, the day of George Washington’s attack.
'2022 is the start of a new year. It’s the start of a new generation. The lions are home from war. And we aren’t assimilating anymore.
'We Can’t All Be Wrong. O-O. Mid-game starts now.
A spokesperson for the Marine Corp has confirmed Scheller's release Friday.
'Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller is no longer on active duty and was separated from the service on Dec. 24, 2021,' the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. 'Out of respect for the privacy rights afforded uniformed service members, we have nothing further to add regarding his status or the characterization of his service in the Marine Corps.'
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