Marine officer to resign after questioning senior leaders’ decisions on Afghanistan

The Marine Corps officer who was relieved of duty last week after questioning senior leaders’ decisions on Afghanistan has resigned from the service.

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller made the announcement in a video posted to LinkedIn over the weekend, saying he wanted “accountability of my senior leaders” regarding the situation in Afghanistan.

“All I asked for was accountability of my senior leaders when there are clear, obvious mistakes that were made,” Scheller said.

“I’m not saying we can take back what has been done. All I asked for was accountability, for people to comment on what I said and to say, yes, mistakes were made. And had they done that, I would have gone back into rank and file, submitted and accomplished what I wanted,” he added.

Days earlier, in a Facebook video following the terrorist attack outside the Kabul airport that killed 11 Marines and two other service members, Scheller said he wanted to “ask some questions to some of my senior leaders.”

“The reason people are so upset on social media right now is not because the Marines on the battlefield let someone down. … People are upset because their senior leaders let them down. And none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying, ‘We messed this up,’” he added, claiming that “a lot of Marines were posting on social media.”

Scheller was relieved of duty the next day.

Marine Corps spokesperson Maj. Jim Stenger told The Hill at the time that he was relieved “due to a loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command.”

Scheller, in the video over the weekend announcing his resignation, recounted what he said was a conversation with a superior officer after his Facebook post garnered widespread attention.

“The morning after I posted my video and I came into work, my boss came in, and he asked me, ‘What were you trying to accomplish?’ That was a very tough question for me, and my response was, ‘I want senior leaders to accept accountability,'” Scheller said.

He went on to say in the video that he has forfeited his retirement and entitlements, adding, “I don’t want a single dollar” from Veterans Affairs (VA).

“I don’t want any money from the VA. I don’t want any VA benefits. I’m sure I’m entitled to 100 percent. I, you know, breathed on the smell and smoke of burning shit for years. I don’t want any of it,” he said.

He said the benefits he would have received should go to “all the senior general officers because I think they need it more than I do.”

“When I am done with what I’m about to do, you all are going to need the jobs and the security,” he added.

The Hill has reached out to the Marine Corps for comment.

The last U.S. military flight left Afghanistan on Monday afternoon, bringing an end to America’s longest war.

Chaos has ensued in Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the capital city of Kabul more than two weeks ago, marking a turning point in the group’s offensive to consolidate power in Afghanistan.