Michelle Manhart, the Air Force noncom who caused quite a splash by posing nude for Playboy, has been demoted and discharged from active service.
An Air Force drill sergeant who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been removed from active duty, she and the Air Force said Wednesday. Michelle Manhart, who appeared in a six-page spread in Playboy’s February issue, said she got word Friday that she was removed from “extended active duty” and was also told that she was demoted from staff sergeant to senior airman.
“I’m disappointed in our system,” Manhart told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “They went too far with it.”
Manhart said that she was reverted to her Air National Guard status and that she submitted a “resignation” to the Guard, which she said is pending. Manhart was a member of the Iowa Air National Guard before going on extended active duty.
Oscar Balladares, a spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base, confirmed that Manhart was removed from extended active duty Friday but said Lackland did not discharge her. “She was removed from active duty status, and thus reverted to National Guard status,” Balladares said. “It is not up to the Air Force — it is not our jurisdiction to discharge her.” Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood, a spokesman for the Iowa National Guard, said that because the Guard did not have “documentation of her separation” from the Air Force, it did not have her on duty status.
Manhart, a 30-year-old mother of two, said the military’s action against her hinged on the fact that she was pictured wearing her uniform. She was photographed in uniform yelling and holding weapons under the headline “Tough Love.” The following pages showed her partially clothed wearing dog tags and fully nude. After the pictorial hit newsstands in January, Manhart was relieved of her duties pending an investigation.
Manhart said she is looking forward to pursuing a modeling and entertainment career.
Here is an AOL video report:
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Manhart would have been discharged from the service outright if she were in the Air Force Reserves. As a National Guardsman, she is now technically an employee of the state of Iowa. Presumably, however, she would not be eligible to recall to active duty and therefore useless to the Guard; I suspect, therefore, that she will be discharged soon enough.
On a lighter note, Dood Abides has a rather amusing parody at Unconfirmed Sources.
In a quiet ceremony today, President Bush recognized the efforts of Air Force Staff Sergeant Michelle Manhart with a Medal of Freedom. Manhart will be appearing in the February issue of Playboy magazine due to hit newsstands this week. The magazine features a partially clothed as well as completely nude picture of Manhart in a feature article entitled “Tough Love”. As a result of the controversial spread, Manhart has been relieved of her duties at Lackland Air Force Base.
A tearful Bush apologized for the heavy-handed response of Manhart’s superiors and promised to make sure she was reinstated as the behavior of the commanding officer in question was investigated.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of our fine young men who are now serving their third and fourth tours in Iraq,” stated Bush. “The number one thing that virtually all of them have said that they enjoy the most in care packages from home is pornography. Sergeant Manhart has made a real personal sacrifice that should not go unrecognized, and my resolve has stiffened thanks to her.”
Heck, George Tenet got a medal. . . .
