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Mark Quartullo Colonel (Ret.), US Army
7h
Hi, Ltc Schiller, I’ve been following your situation and I hope you accept my words as encouragement and support. Know that you are to be admired and respected for the stand you are taking, no matter what others might say. Subjugating personal ambition to stand up for righteous, transcendent principles is how our country was created and has endured for over two centuries. You’ve done honor to the Corps motto, “Semper Fi.”
That said, I wanted to address your decision to resign. Don’t do it - because that’s what the nefarious and corrupt national command want you to do. It was well within your right to demand accountability for the disgraceful decisions ref. Afghanistan, and I found nothing insubordinate or disrespectful to your command on your original post. Military members are not robots and, when decisions and policies are made that impact their well-being, they want answers and it’s the duty of all leaders to provide them. As a commander, it was your duty to ask for them, as that is a part of protecting your troops.
To date, we still haven’t gotten them, making your stand that much more important. Yet, what does that tell you? I believe they have no intention to provide them and perhaps political operators are deflecting it by making you the issue. If you resign, you are giving them what they want: silence, obedience - essentially admitting you were wrong when you weren’t.
By leaving, you effectively make your demand for accountability easier to ignore. By staying in, you can serve as an example to soldiers on what moral is, how to think for themselves, and not take anything at face value of real impact - teaching them critical thinking and indeed holding their superiors accountable. Bottom line: you have served honorably and capably for over 17 years and there’s no reason to give it all up now. If your reason is “honor,” those who indicated you lost it are expressing opinion, not fact.
You should not lose years of retirement and benefits based on opinions used to pressure and shame you. Taking your retirement and VA is how you hold the government accountable for the damage it’s done to you and your family. Don’t leave the field too soon; your mission is not yet complete. Resigning will effectively let them off the hook. Please accept these words as wisdom from a soldier who served over 32 years, retiring as a full Colonel.
I’m no stranger to what you’re going through, finding myself persecuted for questions I’ve asked or for believing different things. They lied about me, shamed, bullied - anything they could do to make me quit. But I didn’t and overcame them effectively because of it.
Whatever you decide, pray hard and go forward confidently. No matter what happens, you’ve done yourself, your country, and profession proud.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markquartullo/