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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| USAF Officer Wins Miss America Crown |
| 2024-01-15 |
| [Epoch Times] U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh won the Miss America title on Jan. 14 at the Walt Disney Theater in Orlando, Florida. 2nd Lt. Marsh, who represented the state of Colorado, is the first active-duty Air Force officer ever to compete and win the title. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The 22-year-old Arkansas native competed for the Miss America crown in Florida on Sunday—an event featuring several phases including a public interview, as well as evening gown and fitness stages. She was one of the 51 contestants who participated in the event. The Daily Mail has more photos, and adds: Marsh is a National Truman Scholar, two-time National Astronaut scholar, eight-time Dean's List at the Air Force – three-times Superintendent's List, a National Rhodes finalist, certified private pilot, and a black belt in taekwondo. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #5 ...or an Annapolis graduate who gets a reserve gig to play in the NFL? I'm so old I remember the Playboy issue of women in uniform. The Air Force and Navy women faced disciplinary actions, the Army one was already out of the service, and the Marines took no action. Being the 'old days', the Commandant was asked why the female marine didn't receive any disciplinary action. He replied that he didn't see it as a problem, but if there was a magazine called Ugly there might be. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-01-15 10:45 |
| #4 Alternatively, a smart woman works up the chain and wins. She will do more for the service as a champion than she could have done as a pilot. Incredible achievements. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-01-15 10:37 |
| #3 ...I'm truly sorry to be a bit of a wet blanket here, but I've got to point out a few things. First, genuine congratulations to LT Marsh - whatever you feel about the MAP, it ain't easy to win. She's clearly smart as a whip, and she's going to be a superb spokesperson for the State of Colorado and the USAF. Trouble is, I respectfully feel she never should have been in the doggoned contest in the first place. She got her commission last year from the USAF Academy, which means she incurred at least a 6 year obligation. She then got the slot at Harvard Kennedy - again, a hell of an achievement...but one that takes approximately two years where she's at school instead of at a line unit, and now she's just gotten another year away from doing her job and being deployable. So, she can't go back to anything resembling military duties until roughly January 2027. And this is in an Air Force with gaping holes in its manning. And in all honesty, I have doubts the USAF will hold her to what should be her new separation date of 2032 should she decide to leave. I have no doubt that she went by the book in requesting permission to do all of this, and it was granted by the book. I simply feel that in the current manning environment, allowing someone to make a run at the Miss America title was not a good call. A few years back USAF killed the Tops In Blue show troupe because while guys were on their third and fourth deployments, frequently back to back, these folks were all-singing and all-dancing around the world...and at best it was resented, because the units they came from still had to provide the same number of bodies for deployments. I believe this should have been the way here. Mike |
| Posted by: MikeKozlowski 2024-01-15 09:45 |
| #2 In case you wanted to see her out of uniform (sorry guys, didn't mean to get your hopes up) |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2024-01-15 08:40 |
| #1 This is 'diversity' I can back. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-01-15 08:16 |
