Lt Col Stu Scheller was thrown in the brig and then drummed out of the US Marine Corps for publicly condemning the chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Almost four years later, he is part of the team investigating the Biden administration’s handling of the evacuation that led to the deaths of 13 US troops in a suicide attack at Kabul airport.

“Ironic that I will be investigating who should be held accountable for Afghanistan,” Lt Col Scheller, who was handed a senior role at the Pentagon by Donald Trump, said this week.

It shows just how much Washington has changed since Mr Trump returned to power.

And it marks an extraordinary turnaround for a figure who was relieved of his command and court martialled after posting a video criticising senior officers on the day a blast ripped through American personnel guarding the evacuation from the Afghan capital.

“I have been fighting for 17 years,” said Lt Col Scheller, then commander of the advanced infantry training battalion. “I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders: ‘I demand accountability.’”