The photo came after Fort Bliss headquarters, in El Paso, Texas, launched a new nursing room for its female soldiers.
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The picture was the idea of Tara Ruby, who served in the Air Force from 1997 to 2001, when breastfeeding or pumping milk meant finding an empty office or bathroom.
To my knowledge a group photo to show support of active duty military mommies nursing their little one’s has never been done.
Parnering with the Fort Bliss P3T program, a moms’ support group, Ruby put out a call on Facebook to find nursing mothers willing to be photographed for the portrait.
The touching snap has gone viral after being posted on Facebook by photographer and former servicewoman Tara Ruby.
“Breastfeeding their infants does not make them much less of a soldier, I consider it makes them a greater one”. Ruby says being a soldier and a mother makes these ladies even stronger.
Fort Bliss Public Affairs and Garrison Command approved the shoot, an Army spokesman said.
However some individuals complained concerning the “professionalism” of the photograph as the ladies are breastfeeding of their uniforms.
The photo was originally posted on Thursday evening but removed for unknown reasons on Friday morning, at which time Ruby posted it again with the hashtag #normalizebreastfeeding.
A gang of military moms have chose to throw their weight behind the benefits of breastfeeding with an inspiring picture proving that soldiers can be mothers too. As of publication, it has generated more than 10,000 likes and 8,000 shares as well as some enthusiastic praise online on various social media platforms.
Alyssa Milano is not the only person out there who makes no apologies for breastfeeding.
“Today I believe we made history”, Ruby wrote in her post.
Ruby addressed the criticisms by telling CNN that such arguments were missing her point.
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“Sometimes, you hit a point in your military career where you have to choose between being a soldier and a mother, and a photo like this helps mothers so they don’t have to choose”, Ruby said.
