Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, whose criticism of the Afghanistan troops withdrawal went viral, announced he was discharged from the Marine Corps on Thursday.
Scheller made the announcement via a Facebook post Thursday morning. He said that he received a general discharge under honorable conditions — lower than an honorable discharge.
"I was released from the Marine Corps today, Thursday, December 23rd, 2021. I am filled with mixed emotions," he wrote after having followed a four-month gag order. "I would like to sincerely thank the Marine Corps for forging me into a man. And from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to thank all the Marines who served, led, bled, and suffered alongside me the past 17 years.
"Was it worth it? Well ... unfortunately for them … the war isn’t over. I think we just arrived at a turning point. The old system underestimated US then … and they underestimate US now."
A military judge in mid-October ordered Scheller to forfeit one month's worth of pay, or $5,000, and receive a letter of reprimand in exchange for his guilty plea after posting several videos on social media where he criticized top military leaders over their handling of the Afghanistan troops withdrawal.
In his Facebook post Thursday, Scheller recapped "my series of defeats" that included being "relieved of command, slandered as homicidal/suicidal by the USMC’s public affairs team, ordered to get a mental health evaluation, lied about in the investigation by my ‘friends’, denied my legal right to prefer charges against another service member beholden to the UCMJ, imprisoned under the false pretense of ‘flight risk’, left without basic items in prison for five days, offered a legal deal while held illegally in jail (you can’t be placed in pre-trial for a special court martial), slandered again when my medical records and investigation were released to the media, fined 5K dollars, called a narcissist in my letter of reprimand, kept under a gag order for over four months, denied the ability to request mast twice, given the lowest characterization (General under Honorable Conditions) allowed by the plea deal, and lost my retirement."
On Aug. 26, Scheller posted a 4-minute, 45-second Facebook video calling for accountability from leadership for the 13 dead U.S. service members and at least 169 Afghans civilians in a bombing at Kabal’s airport.
He resigned his commission after being dismissed from command of the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. However, Scheller’s resignation was rejected by the Marines.
Scheller was jailed by the Marine Corps on Sept. 27 for violating a gag order with a social media post.
"I'd also like to thank the 40K Americans who donated to my foundation while I was in jail," Scheller said in his post. "Witnessing Americans of all ethnicities, political parties, and backgrounds donate to my fund, fills my heart with love for Americans."
Scheller said he started the website, Authentic Americans, as "a virtual town hall where independent thinkers can network, think, and discuss critical issues facing the American representative democracy across all political ideologies, ethnicities, classes, and religions."
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