Two breastfeeding moms who were photographed in uniform this week say they are surprised at the amount of backlash the pictures have received, as some people are calling it a “disgrace to the uniform”.

Terran Echegoyen-McCabe and Christina Luna were promoting the Mom2Mom Breastfeeding Support group, which was started by another military mom earlier this year at Fairchild Military Base. When the photos–which show the women breastfeeding their babies with their uniform shirts pushed aside–hit the web, they quickly garnered a huge amount of attention, in part because the topic of breastfeeding has already been in the news recently with the controversial Time Magazine cover.

Echegoyen-McCabe says she often breastfeeds her twin girls during drill weekends with the National Guard; the mothers were hoping to promote a positive image for moms in uniform, but instead they got a whole lot of controversy. During the interview for Mom2Mom, the women were given orders to stop by their superior officers, and that news is also spreading like wildfire, preceding comments that the military is against breastfeeding. However, the National Guard says they have no problem with the practice or with the mothers for choosing to do it, but rather with the fact that they did it while promoting a civilian cause in uniform, which is strictly prohibited.

Echegoyen-McCabe said, “I have breast-fed in our lobby, in my car, in the park … and I pump, usually in the locker room,” she said. “I’m proud of the photo and I hope it encourages other women to know they can breast-feed whether they’re active duty, Guard or civilian.”