Lt. Col. Scheller Discharged

Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller had mixed emotions after being released, he said in a Facebook post crediting the Marine Corps with “forging me into a man” and thanking those who “served, led, bled and suffered alongside me” throughout his 17-year career.

But the now former infantry officer also accused the Marine Corps of slandering him, among a list of other “defeats” that followed his demand for accountability from senior officials over failures in the nearly 20-year war, just hours after an Aug. 26 bombing in Kabul killed 13 U.S. troops.

Scheller was given a general discharge under honorable conditions, the lowest characterization allowed under a plea deal reached during his October court-martial, he said. He also lost his retirement benefits.

In an emailed statement Saturday, a Marine Corps spokesperson said Scheller was no longer on active duty and was separated Friday.

Conservative lawmakers and critics of President Joe Biden rallied behind Scheller after his first video. He followed up with other controversial videos and posts that led to him being jailed and eventually court-martialed.

He was quickly fired from command of the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune after the first video, later pledging to resign his commission and refuse any benefits in a video recorded in a school bus in the North Carolina woods.

The Corps soon issued a gag order, which he defied, before putting him in confinement ahead of a special court-martial in October on six charges of violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

He would eventually plead guilty to charges that he had displayed contempt toward officials, disrespected and willfully disobeyed commissioned officers above him, was derelict in performance of his duties and failed to obey an order or regulation, and displayed conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman.

But Scheller said Thursday that out of respect for senior leaders, he had not given a single media interview throughout the ordeal.

Now, he said, he plans to launch a media blitz beginning with a Jan. 4 appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox, he said. Carlson has lambasted the military in recent months over its handling of the Afghan War, perceived politicization and progressiveness.

In his latest post, Scheller said he’d expanded his social media accounts and announced the launch of his website AuthenticAmericans.com.

At trial, he said his life had spiraled after the first video, as his wife left him, fellow Marine officers abandoned him and the Corps launched an investigation into his actions. But he kept posting with support from others.

"Many Gold Star families, junior enlisted Marines and members of Congress reached out to support my statements," Scheller said, according to The Washington Post.

A group of 27 Republican lawmakers had called on the Corps to release him from the brig ahead of the trial, and Congress members Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., testified at his trial.