He has not only been sought as a key note speaker all over the U. After the Obama administration condemned the largest peaceful demonstration in the history of the world in Egypt in June of which resulted in the ouster of Pres. Morsi who was maneuvering toward a dictatorship, some American leaders demanded the Muslim Brotherhood dictator be put back in office where he had seized so much power, but Louie became the first and most public elected US official to commend the Egyptians and making him an Egyptian populist hero, earning an award from the Chamber of Commerce in Cairo.
He is a staunch advocate for the U. He is a tireless advocate on the House Floor, all over east Texas and the nation, as well as in the national and international media on many critical issues. These include not only the necessity to fight terrorism from its most prominent source, radical Islam, but also promoting the preservation of U.
I also decided that quietly addressing these concerns within the chain of command would be ineffective. Reference the charges I tried to prefer against General McKenzie. That Service member has always rose to the occasion and done extraordinary things. The reason people are so upset right now is because their senior leaders let them down, and none of them are raising their hands and taking accountability.
That Thursday night, as the video started to go viral, I stated on my LinkedIn page that I did not plan to resign despite all the demands for my resignation. At that time, that is how I felt. I wanted to remain in the Marine Corps. When I came into work the next morning, on August 27 th , the first person I spoke to was Col. He asked what I was trying to achieve with the video.
He then told me that morning that I would NOT be relieved immediately. When Col. Emmel left my office, my Battalion Executive Officer came in so we could conduct a turnover. He was going to run the Battalion in my absence. I just want you to know how much I respect you, and how political and fucked up the Marine Corps has gotten. In fact, I first heard about your video when our old Gunner called me this morning. He said, your new boss just posted a video that is all truth.
Please tell him how proud we all are of him. You know the joint chiefs who signed a letter condemning the January 6 th attacks… how political was that? If ever there was a force that used deliberate thought, the outcome could be much worse.
At no time did I ever advocate for the violent overthrow of the government. I was led into the conversation of the January 6 th attacks by someone I trusted, and then my words were twisted. Furthermore, the investigating officer then took that statement and led every witness he interviewed with questions about my involvement in the January 6 th attacks.
The Marine Corps, despite their best efforts, was not able to find any evidence of insurrection. If the Marine Corps could have charged me with insurrection… they would have. Then later that same Friday the 27 th , while I was back at my house, without explanation, Col. Emmel called me back into work, even though he told me to take the weekend off. When I came back into work, he relieved me for cause. But at the time, not even understanding what my Battalion Executive Officer had said, I agreed that the relief was best for the Marine Corps.
And I wanted, and still want, what was best for the Marine Corps. But after my relief, when I got home and back on my social media, I saw a post from my old commanding officer Col. In fact, he called after my second video and left me a voicemail stating that he and General Neller were discussing my situation.
Hobbs still has. After reading his comment following my relief, my thoughts went from disappointment to anger. It was the first time I started thinking about resigning.
Maybe, this is not an organization that I want to be a part of. If you all agree… then step up. They only have the power because we allow it. What if we all demanded accountability? Every generation needs a revolution.
This post is where the Marine Corps and I started parting ways dramatically. My calls for revolution were always about changing the system. A system that centralizes power and fails to hold senior leaders accountable. A system that will immediately turn on you if you speak out. Emmel called me that Friday night and made it very clear that I was heading towards legal action with the most recent post and reminded me again of the social media policy.
So I took Saturday to contemplate my situation. But that most likely I was heading towards a BOI for separation based on my use of the word revolution.
This situation led me into the second video that I posted on Sunday August 29th. In the video I stated my intention to resign and give up my retirement. But at no time was that a call to violence. I was stating that the system is broken and needs to be rebuilt. I still feel this is the case. I still feel fundamental change is required. I still feel a revolution, or rebuilding the broken system is the only way to fix the shortfalls if senior leaders are unable or unwilling to fix it themselves.
Following the post of the second video, that Sunday afternoon my CO texted me to call him. I answered his call and spoke to him for over ten minutes. I answered your call out of professional courtesy. I am not suicidal. Emmel back because I had just spoken to his XO for a great length of time, and I assumed that was sufficient. I kept my phone on for the rest of the day and no one called me until later that night.
Helminski texted me that NCIS arrived at their houses respectively. Both told me NCIS was looking for me. Scheller to ensure his safety and the safety of those around him. My peers were able to reach me. This seemed like an obvious attempt from the Marine Corps to paint me as suicidal. If they really thought I was suicidal… why not call me… unless they were actually hoping I would commit suicide.
When I went into work the next morning the Marine Corps narrative of my unstable mental health continued to be discussed. My CO told me he wanted me to volunteer for a mental evaluation.
So he ordered me to get a mental health evaluation. The mental health angle is frustrating for many reasons. The Marine Corps never ordered me to get a mental health evaluation when I missed the birth of my first child while deployed to Afghanistan. The Marine Corps never ordered me to get a mental health evaluation when I missed the funerals of all three of my grandparents while on different deployments. The Marine Corps only cared about my mental health once I publicly challenged the leadership.
After I was released from the hospital, I felt like all bets were off. Just reference the comments about me in the investigation. Not one. Also, at this time my family was out of state and my marriage was falling apart. All I wanted to do was to travel up to my wife and try to make amends. I asked Col. He said my number one priority should be preparing to exit the Marine Corps, and all other things could wait.
So I had to continue to come into work every day, which in my opinion, was never about my best interest. The following day, on Tuesday, August 31 st , I submitted my resignation letter because I knew the divide between the Marine Corps and myself was too deep for repair. The next day, Wednesday September 1 st , I made four posts that I later deleted. To me this is an example of the system centralizing control. In a second post to General Berger, I thanked him for addressing the need to discuss the withdraw of Afghanistan.
A third post I made that day was in response to the attack on my small business. I spoke to my business partner who told me MCCS was potentially pulling my product, The Perfect Ribbon, off the shelves of the Marine Corps exchanges because of my actions. Again, this was just another example of how I thought the Marine Corps was unlawfully attacking me.
Again I thought, why would they do that if they actually cared about me? My fourth post that day was to my wife. So I ended up deleting all four posts from that Wednesday. I also deeply regret the way I handled what should have been a private conversation with my wife.
But I never went back and deleted my messages demanding accountability, or how I thought the system was failing. I made another post on Thursday 2 September clarifying my position and demand for accountability. At this point, I felt the world was against me, and all I could see was the hypocrisy of the system. Everything I thought about frustrated me. I also illustrated my frustration with General officers who take jobs with high paying government contractors following their retirement.
This seems highly unethical to me and is another symptom of our inability to hold senior leaders accountable. For example, the current Secretary of Defense got a high paying job with Raytheon to be on the board of directors following his military retirement, which in itself is unethical.
But then he was selected to become the Secretary of Defense. The ethical issues with this conflict of interest are obvious to me. In this video I was trying to communicate my emotional process.
I was trying to show all the people who kept calling me crazy that I was just a normal guy, like all other Service members asked to kill people in the last 20 years. I wanted to normalize the psychological impact on service members after a failed war. At no time in that video did I state I was going to use violence to hold my senior leaders accountable. But again, that is how the message was spun.
I posted the video to demonstrate how these emotions are normal, but somehow I was painted as even crazier than before. Everyone was telling me that I was having a mental break down. But at the time, I felt like my honor and reputation were at stake. I felt like at that point, if I had taken any agreed upon deal, I would always have been painted as the stereotypical crazy veteran.
I felt like all my very valid points would have been forgotten. And to be clear, I am a command selected Battalion Commander.
Can you imagine a LCpl demanding accountability for rape or any other valid complaint? How do you think the command would treat those Marines? Do you think the command would be more sympathetic to them than how they have treated me? This whole process, in my opinion, should be a case study on how the system can turn on someone who speaks out. I truly hope going forward that Marine Corps leaders can better tolerate challenges to the system. I ended up deciding to post a fourth video, on Thursday September 16 th , to ensure my request for accountability was not forgotten.
I posted the video in my uniform, because unlike my previous two videos, I was very controlled and deliberate in the fourth video.
In the fourth video, I was speaking directly to the General officers. I also stated my intention to prefer legal charges against General McKenzie so that my command, who was trying to hold me accountable, would also be forced to take a formal position on the charges I levied against General McKenzie.
But up to this point, they have denied me this right. After I posted the fourth video, my command finally grew tired of reminding me about the social media policy and issued me the gag order. To be clear, I never stated that I would stop posting. I only signed and acknowledge that Col. Emmel gave me a gag order. After signing, I remained silent for the rest of the week on social media. During that week I was fighting four sperate legal battles with four different groups of lawyers.
My wife handed me a separation agreement, my business partner initiated a process to buy me out of the company since my name hurt the brand, I was trying unsuccessfully to prefer legal action against General McKenzie, and I was also trying to defend myself against the legal actions being brought towards me by the command.
It was a tough week for me personally and professionally. Then that weekend, on Saturday, September 25 th , I deliberately made three posts that violated the gag order. I did so willingly. I knew if I said true things that were hard to hear, my command would likely overreact and send me to jail. I felt this overreaction would ultimately bring coverage to my situation and force the General officers to answer tough questions about the hypocrisy of our situations.
But even though I anticipated my command would send me to jail, when I went into work on Monday, I was very disturbed that Col. Emmel stated on the confinement order that I was a flight risk. Up to that point, I knew Col. I also sympathized with his responsibility to hold the party line. But when he stated formally that I was a flight risk with absolutely no evidence of this, I felt like he lied to silence and punish me. The truth is that I came into work every day and had responded to every request even after he refused to let me take leave.
The only time I failed to communicate with him was the one text he sent me after my second video, which again, I felt was appropriately addressed after I spoke to his XO for ten minutes. Yet still somehow, he listed on a formal document that I was a flight risk to justify my confinement. While in the brig I again tried to submit a resignation in lieu of trial, but my command rejected it. They wanted a conviction of guilt. Thus, I obviously signed a deal to plead guilty to a litany of charges at special court martial, which brings us to today.
But the attacks from the Marine Corps continued even after my release. Following my release, the Marine Corps leaked confidential documents to the senior pentagon journalist for Task and Purpose. Of note, the Marine Corps placed my medical records in the investigation, and then leaked these documents to Task and Purpose.
For them to leak my medical records is truly heartbreaking. Furthermore, had I leaked something to the media, I would have gone back to jail. But no one in the Marine Corps will be held accountable for the leaked documents. In the article ran by Task and Purpose, I was painted as a violent extremist, Fascist, and the journalist even made a connection to Hitler. Obviously, you can understand that I was very angry following the article.
This is not the America I know. This is not the America that I have fought so hard to defend the last 17 years. In summary, I was never charged with a false official statement.
Because everything I have said is true. If the Marine Corps could have charged me with, they would have. My statements all center around the fact that I do not believe General Officers are held to the same standards as junior leaders. I also believe, that similar to post Vietnam, the Marine Corps leadership is trying to spin the narrative about our failures on the junior enlisted without taking a hard look at themselves.
I also believe that once I spoke out, the Marine Corps holistically took every opportunity to attack me, and never actually cared about my well-being. Going forward, I am still demanding accountability from my senior General officers. Since this endeavor began, not a single General officer has accepted accountability.
Not a single General officer has contacted me directly in any forum to deescalate the situation. Since this endeavor began, I have acknowledged that I should be held accountable for my actions. I am standing here today pleading guilty. This is me accepting accountability. But it deeply pains me that my senior leaders are incapable of being as courageous. Without accountability from our senior leaders, the system cannot evolve, and the military will ultimately keep repeating the same mistakes in the future.
Furthermore, I understand that my process of criticism was unorthodox and not within official Marine Corps channels. I essentially requested mast in a very public setting. But I felt the conversation and need for change outweighed the potential negative bad press. I did what I did because I thought it was in the best long-term interest of the Marine Corps. I have always wanted to make the Marine Corps better. Not damage the Marine Corps.
My actions were very public, and at times, very emotional. But I think the emotional rollercoaster that I went through, is what every service member in the country goes through. The only difference is that my experience was very public. And unlike the 22 Service Members a day who kill themselves, I decided a long time ago that I will never be broken.
No matter the struggle… I will prevail stronger.
0コメント