Accountability for Our Military and Political Leadership
How many of us would be willing to give up everything we had worked for when you felt your leaders had made a bad decision putting military personnel in a precarious position, and making the country you serve look weak?
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Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller is a 17 year infantry officer who resigned at the rank of Lt. Col. after witnessing a poorly planned and executed Afghanistan withdraw. He was thrust into the media when he posted a video on Facebook and LinkedIn from his office as a Battalion Commander. Wearing his uniform, he identified himself in the video with rank and title and then proceeded to criticize the decisions of his senior military and political leaders.
A series of escalating events occurred following the initial video between himself and the Marine Corps which resulted in his imprisonment and court martial. This is his story. Why he joined the Marine Corps. Why he loves America. Why he joined during a time of war, and why he wanted to experience combat. How he progressed through his career. How his experiences in places like Afghanistan and Iraq shaped his thinking. How his military education created deeper questions about America’s foreign policy approach. And how the events of Afghanistan compelled him to sacrifice everything in his life up to that point.
Speaker Bio:
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller’s Degrees:
2004: Bachelors of Science from the University of Cincinnati – Focus in Accounting
2019: Masters in Military Science from Marine Corps University – Focus in Foreign Diplomacy
Military Experience:
January – December 2005 Officer Candidate School, Basic School, and Infantry Officer Course, as a Student.
January 2005 – July 2008 First Battalion, 8th Marines
First deployment with this unit was June to December 2008 with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. You get on ships and float around. Thought we were going to Iraq, but got caught up in the 2006 Israeli/Lebanese conflict and had to secure the embassy and conduct an evacuation of American citizens to Cyprus.
Second deployment with this unit was to Ramadi, Iraq from Sep 2007 to April 2008. He was a company Executive Officer Alpha Company. His friend Dave Borden got hit with an SVEST on this deployment. This was the same unit as the unit hit with an SVEST in Afghanistan. It came full circle for him.
July 2008 – June 2010 Infantry Training Battalion East – Echo Company Commander
June 2010 – July 2011 Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). Afghanistan CIED Team Leader.
Served in Paktika East, Ghazni Province, and Andar District. Served as a CIED expert for the Army infantry units, and did all the patrols with EOD and route clearance platoon. It was a very kinetic deployment.
July 2011 – June 2012 Expeditionary Warfare School – Student
June 2012 – August 2012 Officer Candidate School – Platoon Commander
August 2012 – October 2015 Third Battalion, Second Marines
26th MEU deployment March 2012 – December 2013. Headquarters and Service Company Commander. No combat operations on this deployment. Bilateral in Egypt, Jordan, Djibouti, Oman, Qatar. Unit Deployment East, deployment January 2015 – July 2015, to Okinawa, Japan, and Korea. Weapons Company Commander. No combat operation on this deployment.
October 2015 – July 2018 The Basic School Instructor
Taught officers the basics, and was the Operations Officer, Company Commander, and Warfighting Director on this tour.
July 2018 – July 2019 Command and Staff College – Student
Received a Master’s Degree in military science.
July 2019 – July 2020 MARSOC. 2d Support Battalion.
Battalion XO. Prepared small teams to deploy around the globe.
July 2020 – June 2021 6th Marines.
Operations Officer. Was the regimental operations officer who prepared V1/8, the unit that conducted the Kabul evacuation, for their deployment.
June 2021 – Present.SOI East. – AITB Battalion Commander