Michelle Manhart, who got thrown out of the Air Force for posing nude for Playboy, has now gotten naked in the cause of animal rights. Because, not only would she rather go naked that wear an Air Force uniform, she’d rather go naked than wear fur.
Having proudly served our country since 1994, Manhart recently made headlines when the Air Force demoted her for posing in—as well as very much out of—her uniform in the February issue of Playboy. As feisty as she is fabulous, Manhart stood up for her right to express herself and eventually resigned. Just as passionate about protecting animals from abuse, this first-class fox now appears in the PETA campaign against fur, which also features ads with Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee, and Dennis Rodman.
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Manhart posed for the patriotically themed ad because she believes in liberty and justice for all animals.
And because, you know, that’s what she does.
Hat tip to Steven Taylor, who is also somewhat cynical about Manhart’s motivations for going au natural.
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.
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.”
Toxic Magazine has scans of several of the Michelle Manhart Playboy photo shoot. Manhart, you may recall, is an Air Force staff sergeant and mother of two who was shocked to discover that posing naked for a porno mag might negatively impact her career.
According to Toxic,
The good looking Sergeant appears nude in the latest issue of the magazine in a six-page spread with pictures in and out of uniform titled ‘Tough Love’.
The California native said she hopes that the photo shoot will pave a way into an acting or modeling career.
An Air Force staff sergeant who posed nude for Playboy magazine has been relieved of her duties while the military investigates, officials said Thursday.
In February’s issue, hitting newsstands this week, Michelle Manhart is photographed in uniform yelling and holding weapons under the headline “Tough Love.” The following pages show her partially clothed, wearing her dog tags while working out, as well as completely nude.
“This staff sergeant’s alleged action does not meet the high standards we expect of our airmen, nor does it comply with the Air Force’s core values of integrity, service before self, and excellence in all we do,” Oscar Balladares, spokesman for Lackland Air Force Base, said in a statement.
Manhart told Playboy that she considers herself as standing up for her rights. “Of what I did, nothing is wrong, so I didn’t anticipate anything, of course,” Manhart, 30, told The Associated Press. “I didn’t do anything wrong, so I didn’t think it would be a major issue.”
Manhart, who is married with two children, joined the Air Force in 1994, spending time in Kuwait in 2002. She trains airmen at Lackland.
It’s rather difficult to be taken seriously as a military leader after appearing naked in a porno mag. That someone who has been in the Air Force thirteen years can’t figure this out is incredible. And the only reason a 30-year-old mother of two is in Playboy to begin with is because of the novelty of her being in (and out) of uniform.
She has a MySpace page with numerous photos. She has her clothes on in all of them.
Okay, so maybe her Air Force affiliation isn’t the only reason Playboy was interested. Still, what was she thinking?
UPDATE:Steven Taylor wonders whether “investigating, and likely castigating, someone over nude photos is a good use of time and resources” given the military’s recruiting issues.
