Sharpsburg resident recalls military career

A veteran of both the U.S. Marines
and U.S. Army, Ellis Lowery served his country in the global war on terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. The retired combat soldier and Sharpsburg resident never expected his military service would stretch for more than two decades.

“If anyone would have said in the beginning of all of this that I would spend 23 years in the military in active combat situations, I would have said they’re crazy,” says Lowery, who retired as sergeant first class with the Army National Guard.

The son of a Vietnam veteran and East Point police officer who enjoyed hunting on his days off, Lowery grew up becoming proficient with firearms. The 1991 graduate of Newnan High School describes his military service as, “lengthy, detailed and complicated.”

Wanting to emulate his father’s example, he enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served for six years on active duty. He then returned home and became a police officer.

When the terrorist attacks struck America twenty years ago on 9/11, the warrior inside of Ellis Lowery was unleashed. Within days of the attacks in New York City and Washington D.C., he joined the Army National Guard and was assigned to Company H, Georgia Long Range Surveillance, in the 121st Infantry Airborne. In 2003, his unit crossed the border into hostile Iraq.

Following that deployment, Lowery returned stateside on a ship escorting combat equipment that was withdrawn from the Iraqi War zone. He redeployed in 2005-06 with the 48th Brigade, Infantry Combat Team H. In 2006, he volunteered for Airborne School at Fort Benning and took continuing training there in long range surveillance before deploying to the Syrian-Iraqi border where, as a combat field instructor, he taught Army Pathfinder and air assault techniques. Also during this time, he served as the primary protective detail to the brigade commander.

In 2009, Lowery organized and trained protective service details in Afghanistan via Task Force Phoenix. Not only was he responsible for protective services to his own commanders; he also trained Afghan National Security Forces to protect their own commanding officers. His unit was based out of Kabul but was responsible for training the Afghan military all across Afghanistan.

Lowery finally retired in 2019 and returned home to Sharpsburg.

After two years of being back on American soil, he contemplates his thoughts on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“I grew up in a family where my dad was a police officer and there was lots of hunting, so the concept of life and death was instilled in me at an early age,” says Lowery. “Once I got into traumatic situations, the effects of violent combat were a little bit different on me than the 18-year-old who’s doing his first tour. Over time, I don’t want to say you get numb to it, but it gets easier to deal with.”

Lowery commends a new combat generation for trying to take the stigma of “disorder” out of the PTSD acronym.

“The stigma attached to the disorder is putting a scarlet letter on a lot of vets,” he says. “It should be just PTS. We were in multiple violent combat situations, but you have to just lock those away and compartmentalize them in your mind.”

As for close calls or injuries, Lowery recounts a couple of minor traumatic brain injuries, which were concussions caused by close enemy combat explosions. He remembers one incident with off-handed humor.

“We were all doing morning physical training at Camp Phoenix when a vehicle-borne IED exploded at our compound gate,” he recalls. “It was an extremely large, powerful device, and when it detonated, it partially collapsed the roof of our gym. I immediately grabbed my combat pistol, which was all I had at the time, to defend myself. It was impossible to take cover under a treadmill, but I sure tried anyway!”

In retirement, Lowery says he enjoys spending time with his wife Candis and their three children, Alexis Brandon, 19, Austin Lowery, 18, and Karen Brandon, 16. The veteran rides his Harley with two veteran groups and shares fellowship with other vets at the Coweta Veterans Club. He works at the On Target Gun Club facility in Peachtree City, using his extensive firearm expertise to teach gun safety classes and provide gunsmithing skills.

On this season of Veterans Day, he speaks with gratitude about his career.

“I have been lucky and blessed to have made it back, especially considering how many of my fellow soldiers did not,” he says.

A grateful Coweta County salutes you, SFC Lowery. NCM