Special Operations Petty Officer 1st Class Carl Higbie is seeking accountability for the politicization of the military he witnessed while in the Navy SEALS. 

Higbie saw this politicization affect the lives of others through death of a fellow SEAL, killed while following an “obsolete”–but required–“Standard Operating Procedure” in Iraq, and in the manner in which three SEALS were treated after being “falsely accused of physically abusing Ahmed Hashim Abed, following his capture in 2009.”

According to The Daily Beast, these two events spurred Higbie to write Battle on the Homefront: A Navy SEAL’s Mission to Save the American Dream.

After the book’s release, Higbie felt the politicization of the military in his own life, as his July 2012 Honorable Discharge was changed to a General Discharge in September 2012. It was the first of many ramifications he would face for trying to do what he thought necessary to return accountability to military leadership.

Higbie’s Honorable Discharge was restored in May 2014–after a nearly two-year legal battle–but he is still looking for the accountability. 

When Breitbart News spoke with Higbie about these things, he said:

I have put my country in front of my career. I did not like the idea that my career was going to suffer because of my book, but someone had to speak out. Almost everyone is a patriot behind closed doors, but real patriots are those who are willing to step out from behind those doors and speak out.

Higbie said he gave the book to his command for them to review before it was published. He wanted them to have the opportunity to see there were “no security violations or anything of the sort.” But instead of reviewing the book, Higbie said it just “sat on their desk for two years.” 

He stated that his current push for accountability is not part of an effort to get back at the military. Rather, it is part of his desire to see the politicization rooted out. “I’m not bitter toward the military,” Higbie said. “I don’t want to bash them; I want to fix the military.”

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.  Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.