Is ‘Lioness’ based on a true story? The real military program and why it was shut down
Taylor Sheridan’s ‘Lioness’ returned for Season 3 on August 2, bringing Zoe Saldaña’s Joe McNamara and the CIA’s covert Lioness unit back into focus. The series follows female operatives who infiltrate the lives of people connected to terrorist targets, but its central idea did not begin as a CIA mission. ‘Lioness’ draws inspiration from a real U.S. military program created during the Iraq War in 2003, though the show changes its purpose, structure, and scope. The real Team Lioness was not built around covert CIA missions or long-term infiltration operations.
The U.S. Marine Corps created Team Lioness in 2003 after military troops faced a problem at checkpoints in Iraq. Cultural and religious rules made it difficult for male service members to search Iraqi women, and insurgents began using women to move weapons and other contraband. Female Marines volunteered to work alongside combat units so those searches could be carried out. The Army later adopted similar teams, while the program also operated in Afghanistan.
The real Lionesses usually worked in small groups attached to infantry or combat units. Their duties included searching women and children at checkpoints for weapons, money, and other prohibited items. They also spoke with local women, gathered information, and tried to build trust in communities where male troops had limited access. Some members later helped train local women to conduct security searches, enabling those duties to be handled by community members.
The Paramount+ series turns the Lioness name into a covert CIA program led by Joe McNamara. Its operatives are selected for missions that involve entering the personal circles of people connected to terrorist organizations. The real program was more direct and was developed by the Marine Corps to support military units already operating in Iraq. Members volunteered for the role rather than being recruited into a separate intelligence network, and their work centered on searches, engagement, and information gathering.
The difference is also reflected in how long the two programs were designed to operate. Sheridan’s series presents Lioness as an established unit that can be used for missions across different countries. The military program was created as a response to a specific need during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although Team Lioness members sometimes came under fire and faced improvised explosive device attacks, their assignment was not the same as the fictional unit’s covert targeting missions.
Team Lioness was created as a temporary response to an operational need rather than as a permanent branch of the military. In 2009, the Marine Corps introduced Female Engagement Teams, which had a more formal structure and a wider focus on working with women in local communities. These teams took over many of the duties associated with the earlier Lioness program. The shift made the original ad hoc model less necessary.
Another change came in 2013, when the Department of Defense lifted the rule that excluded women from direct combat roles. Women could then officially serve in combat units, reducing the need for a separate program that attached female service members to those units for limited tasks. Team Lioness ended, but its work helped show how women could operate alongside combat forces and reach communities that male troops could not. ‘Lioness’ uses that history as its starting point while telling a fictional story about CIA operations.
