U.S. Army Iraq Veteran Lindsay Lowery Accused Of ‘Stolen Valor’ For Leading Infantry Soldiers As A Female

Retired U.S. Army veteran Lindsay Faith Lowery is now a journalist who operates under the pseudonym “Prissy Holly” since she used to deal directly with the “worst of the worst” Muslim extremists in Iraq, some of whom apparently worked with Osama bin Laden. During this time in Iraq, Lowery served as a Compound Commander (OIC) and was attached to a U.S. Army Infantry unit as a platoon leader. Now that Lowery has retired, she has come under attack by those who claim she has “stolen valor” from the U.S. Army Infantry and is accused of claiming to be a female Infantry soldier, which she denies.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, Alessandra T. Kirby is hoping to become one of the first female U.S. Army Rangers in 2015.

Having women in combat continues to be controversial to this day. Even in the year 2015, U.S. female soldiers are not allowed to test for the Expert Infantryman Badge, but this past fall, female soldiers in South Korea’s military were the first women to earn it. According to USA Today, this was historic since “U.S. women have participated in the testing but were not eligible to earn the badge even if they met the standards.”

Being in the Infantry is one of the few military occupational specialties closed to women in the U.S. Army, so claiming to be a female Infantry soldier is extremely controversial. For example, even a female Marine officer wrote in the Marine Corps Gazette that “women do not belong in the U.S. Infantry.”

“Even those select women who can physically endure the infantry are still posing a threat to the infantry mission and readiness. Female Marines who want to stir the pot by joining the infantry ranks are more interested in their careers than the needs of the Corps — they are selfish…. Incorporating women into the infantry does not add to the infantry mission to ‘locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver and/or repel the enemy assault by fire and close combat.’ Period… Incorporating women into the infantry will actually make the mission more difficult to accomplish and take away from the training, readiness, and morale of the infantry units.”

Lindsay Faith Lowery would disagree. Writing for Mad World News, she claims it’s past time that female Infantry soldiers be allowed to fill in the ranks. Beliefs like that are certain to upset some, but what caused all the commotion was when Lowery related her story and gave her reasons for why she retired from the U.S. Army. Besides wanting the ability to publicly say, “F**k you Obama,” Lowery also described her service in Iraq.

“I was nicknamed ‘Battle Barbie’ early on in my career, and along with this sexist stereotype, came my iron will to prove myself as an equal in the eyes of my male-counterparts. The unit I ended up deploying with, thought it would be a fun idea to put me in charge of an all-male Infantry unit, where I quickly adopted the mouth of a sailor, fitting in well with the Soldiers I was charged with leading.

“When I deployed to Iraq, I was put in charge as the compound commander for the super maximum detention facility which held the ‘worst of the worst’ Muslim detainees. (Just to give you an idea of how bad, one of Muslims was in the process of sawing someone’s head off right before he was captured, and Bin Laden’s phone number was in the phone that was confiscated from him.) These ‘lovely gentlemen’ I was so lucky to oversee, would often hold courts and carry out Sharia Law in their tents. After deeming one of their guys a ‘rat,’ they beat him to death with fruit they had placed in their socks.

I’m not sure why my leadership wanted a female in charge of the super max facility, (since 90% of the compounds held non-violent detainees) but I can tell you, these detainees were thoroughly pissed that a woman was in charge of them, and I believe they felt it was in insult to them. To help deal with their bad attitudes, I had my interpreter write ‘I will kill you’ in Arabic on the inside brim of my hat, so as these a**hats glared up at me in the tower, they could read my special little message for them. (Which, of course, I would never kill them, but just to get the point across not to mess with me.)”

What caused some to make claims of “stolen valor” was Lowery’s description of being put “in charge of an all-male Infantry unit.” A Facebook group calling itself “POG Boot F***s” led the charge in this regard, claiming Lowery was embellishing her military record. They also claim the U.S. Army’s AKO “proves” she never deployed to Iraq, but the AKO page functions like Facebook and it’s fully possible fill in fake information like “Starship Troopers” as a description of a soldier’s experience. In response to the accusation, Lowery says she “never bothered to update my profile, since I rarely used my email account.”

To put “POG Boot F***s” in perspective, this group headlines their page with this quote: “There are no female Marines, only wooks.” Instead of sticking to the facts, some Facebook members also resorted to crude attacks, claiming that female soldiers belonged in a kitchen or existed to provide sexual favors. Some of the comments even promoted violence towards women, and lately Lowery’s boss has been receiving photos of unwiped rear ends.

In response to these continued attacks, Lowery has provided her Officer Evaluation Report from Iraq, her Army Reserve orders, and her DD214 discharge papers. Fellow serviceman Sgt. Toby Henry has also corroborated her story.

“Back in 2007, we were being deployed to Iraq under bravo 1/180th Infantry. At the time, Lowery was a platoon leader throughout the deployment. We deployed under the 45th Infantry brigade, bravo 180th. Once we were deployed, our unit got split up and attached to different units. We were in Iraq at Camp Bucca where she was a compound commander.”

Lowery’s commanding officer, retired Colonel William Finley, provided a letter of support providing details of her service record. He also responded to the attacks on Facebook.

“Gentlemen, I Commissioned her – she is was a Commisioned Officer in the US Army and now a Veteran. We can stop all the Bravo Sierra – she was a Signal Officer that was a Compound Commander in Iraq – she deployed with an Infantry Task Force (yes – they have females assigned)…”

The Inquisitr also spoke directly to retired U.S. Army veteran Lindsay Lowery in order to clarify certain issues pertaining to her record with the U.S. Army Infantry.

When you tried to resolve the allegations of “stolen valor,” what was the response?

I contacted the page directly, and asked that my personal information be taken down. I explained how I really wanted to keep my identity on my journalism page a secret, I often receive death threats from Muslims from the anti-Islamic type articles I write. The page pretty much told me to F off.

Do you describe yourself as a female soldier attached to an Infantry unit, or directly as a female Infantry soldier?

I am a signal officer. I was on the 45th Infantry brigade. When I was deployed, I was attached to an Infantry unit as a platoon leader, and I had 43 soldiers under me. All the soldiers were Infantry with the exception of the female medics who were also attached. Once we got to Iraq, we were attached to the 400 MP battalion and did detainee ops. I was put in charge of a super max security compound as OIC (officer in command). I had 700 extremist detainees under my charge and it took about 100 soldiers to run it.

So the former?

Yes, female soldier attached to an Infantry unit. I was a platoon leader. When I stated in my original post (the one that made them lose their minds) I said I was in charge of an all male “unit.” Most people on my page are not in the military, and so I used the word unit in a general sense. I should have, in hind sight, said I was in charge of a platoon and been more specific. But, regardless, I was an Infantry platoon leader in charge of an all male Infantry unit while deployed.

What do you think about the distinction between “being” in the Infantry versus being “attached to” an Infantry unit even as a leader of men. Personally, it sounds like you served effectively as the former, but politics only allows you to claim the latter.

Currently, the military is looking to integrate females and giving them combat roles, but this goal has been problematic since they must pass the physical fitness requirements, which is hard for most women to do.

I know some women are testing out for the U.S. Army Rangers soon, but women are still not allowed in the Infantry directly.

I was not actually in the Infantry as an 11B, which is the identifier for Infantry. I was a signal corps officer and just attached to the Infantry company for the deployment as their platoon leader.

From a practical perspective, how much of a difference was your service experience from “being” in the Infantry?

When I was attached to the Infantry unit as a PL, I was not kicking down doors and doing Infantry-type missions. Once I got into Iraq, I did detainee ops.

I’m also assuming you believe women should be allowed in the U.S. Infantry?

If women want to be in the infantry and are able to pass the physical fitness requirements the same as the males, then I feel they should be able to do so. But I do not feel that the standards should be lowered to allow females into the Infantry. It appears as though sexism in this country is alive and well, despite the fact that it is the year 2015. Even though numerous females have put their lives on the line to answer the call and defend the country they love, there are still chauvinist pigs out there that think women still belong in the kitchen. Had I been a male, there is no question in my mind that I wouldn’t have been so horrendously attacked, and automatically labeled a liar for the statements I made about my service in Iraq. Perhaps it’s time for these hate-filled individuals to evolve, and join the rest of us here in the 21st century.