Exclusive: A Marine lieutenant colonel from Ohio who has spoken out against the withdrawal from Afghanistan will lead military service members door to door in the Senate next week in support of defense nominee Pete Hegseth.
Stuart Schiller, who was imprisoned in Jacksonville, North Carolina, for his public criticism of military officers, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that he is organizing enlisted men and women to deal with senators next Wednesday.
Schiller stressed that the participating military service members are not prominent colleagues in research centers or in any government or authority-related positions.
“Pete has made public comments that he wants to move to a merit system, and he believes we need more courage in the ranks. So, I'm not saying I wouldn't have been reprimanded (if he had been secretary).” Schiller said.
“I still think there was probably some reprimanding that should have happened, but it would extend across the board.
“The difference is that if Pitt had been Secretary of Defense, the general officers would have been held accountable as well (for the failed withdrawal), and I would not have had to go to the lengths I had to go to bring attention to the matter.” Attitude.”
The US military, over the past decade or two, “hasn't won anything, and we need to turn it into a winning organization,” Schiller said.
Schiller said Hegseth planned to hold accountable Pentagon leaders who had “become stagnant,” in the words of the lieutenant colonel.
Schiller's lawyer criticizes the “punitive” generals.
Pete Hegseth (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
He also confirmed that Hegseth is the first Pentagon nominee in decades who is not an officer or defense contractor.
Outgoing Secretary Lloyd Austin III is a retired U.S. Central Command general but also came from the Raytheon board.
“Forty years to become a four-star general really takes you out of the forces,” Schiller said of the past several selections for secretary of general officers.
“Pete's middle management – specialty. I mean he's like the perfect guy… and he was sitting here talking to veterans when he was developing his book, trying to understand their pulse and their heartbeat. So, this book that he wrote probably prepared him more in terms of current culture and feelings and frustrations than any Another defense minister.
As for his plans for Hill next week, Schiller said he and his fellow service members are focusing on those who may appear to be on the fence about Hegseth.
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Pentagon (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)
“I'm looking for a larger number of suitable people than the total amount,” he said.
Schiller will also release a video announcing his mission on Wednesday.
“(Hegseth) is a veteran of our generation… He's not a puppet of the military-industrial complex. He's not going to end up on one of their boards like any general officer of our generation,” Schiller says in the video.
“I will be in Washington, D.C., walking the halls of the United States Senate, speaking with all the members of the United States Senate, and calling for peace.”
