Crisis of Command: How We Lost Trust and Confidence in America's Generals and Politicians

This book provides more evidence that Americans' declining confidence in traditional institutions, government, education, the miliary, etc., is justified. First, the book could have been better written and edited. That's my primary criticism. Second, most of the negative comments among the one- and two-star reviews appear to be written by people who haven't read the book, have a vested interest in the Marine Corps' current status quo, or both. For instance, many reviewers criticized Scheller for not working within the system. Yet, the book explains why the author had no confidence in the system's capacity to deal objectively with his complaints. Third, the author provides significant evidence to support his position that the Marine Corps has (1) significant problems among its general officers and (2) a system that guarantees that these problems will not soon be corrected--my words, not Scheller's. Scheller went public with his complaints to create external pressure to correct problems he believes, with reason, will not be corrected if left to existing internal Marine Corps practices. Finally, Stuart Scheller is either a good Marine who suffered a mental lapse and acted foolishly or a very good man who'd seen enough and decided to attempt to do something about it, regardless of the costs. I think Scheller's the latter, and this book, though not perfect, supports that position.

As a (minority) Woman Marine Vet, mother to a 23yo Marine-AND a (former) DoD employee spanning 17 years of service to include Accounting and Protocol- this book hit me hard on all sides! When the Commandant’s white letter went out following the debacle in Afghanistan I was just dumbfounded and perturbed to say the least. It was the same kinda BS white letter that was put out about decade earlier after President Obama set prisoners free from Gitmo! I remembered how demoralized the Marines around me were. They rightfully bemoaned the loss of life, immeasurable sacrifices and hard work put into bringing those monsters to justice only for those efforts to be indifferently laid waste by our very own government!!! I bring this to your recollection to make LtCol Scheller’s (Resigned) point: that “winning wars” is obviously NOT the focus of our military. Then to add insult to injury, those white letters alluded to shortcomings on the part of the warriors failing to get proper medical attention upon rotating home from the war. Those white letter(s) set off the chain of events that we all have come to know through Scheller’s first video; complete lack of accountability. The “why” of such lunacy is exposed in Stuart’s book. It is an easy read, often recapping his social media posts but giving the Reader insight on all the happenings in the “spaces between.” He tells his personal story and brings you through his career progression so you can understand all the experiences that influenced his ultimate decision to take such an important stand. Stuart is truely a Braveheart at war with a system of feigned leadership that seeks only to serve its personal selfish interests at the expense of our military members and ultimately the security and stability of our nation. This book correctly diagnoses the issues crippling US and offers common sense solutions to forging a better tomorrow. Crisis Of Command made me shake and scratch my head, clutch my heart in disappointment over an organization I have loved and romanticized so deeply all my life. I cried but I laughed a few times too given Stuart’s obvious wit. His focus and resolve to tell the truth and carry the weight of the nation’s collective conscience whilst being under heavy attack leaves one completely awestruck. He is an HONORABLE warrior in spirit and in deed. I am so very proud of what he has done for US!!! Read this book and be inspired to demand accountability from those who should be serving our country (not serving themselves) that our children and grandchildren will truly inherit a free and prosperous future. …and to his HATERS. Kick rocks and suck lemons. I think he’s just warming up.