What happens when a woman, who is a Sargent in the Air Force poises nude for Playboy? This is a question that can be answered by Michelle Manhart.
The Early Days
Michelle Manhart was born in California in 1976. In 1994, she decided that she would join the US Air Force. She was married and had two children. Her husband was relocated to Waterloo, Iowa as a recruiter and Michelle was transferred to the Iowa National Guard. Michelle stayed in Iowa until after the September 11 attacks. After that, she was deployed to Kuwait in 2002. After Michelle finished in Kuwait, she came home to the United States. She was assigned a position a United States Air Force Military Training Instructor and was stationed in San Antonio Texas. She held the rank of Staff Sargent.
The Photos
In the February 2007 issue of Playboy, Michelle Manhart is shown wearing her uniform and holding weapons and yelling. The caption reads “Tough Love”. Other pictures show Michelle wearing only her dog tags and other she was totally naked. A spokesman for the Lack land Air Force base states that Michelle’s actions do not meet the high quality of standards expected from their airmen. Her behavior also do not comply with the Air Force’s core value of integrity.
The Fallout
Since the fallout of the Playboy issue, Michelle has been relieved of her duties pending investigation. After the investigation was over, Michelle was demoted to Senior Airman. This demotion prompted her to resign from the Air Force.
Michelle has told the press that she does not understand why this has happened to her. She believes that she did nothing wrong and that it was not a major issue.
Michelle Was Not the Only One
According to a Playboy spokesperson, Michelle was not the only woman who served in the US military to pose in Playboy. Lieutenant Frederica Spilman was photographed for the April 1988 issue. She was honorably discharged. Sherry Lynne White was in the September 2000 issue. Sherry was discharged a few months prior to her date of discharge. In the April 1980 issue, seven woman were pictured in a Women of the Armed Forces pictorial. All of these women were said to have not held up the “code of honor”.
This is another example of poor judgement. If you hold a position of honor and it means a lot to you, posing nude for Playboy or any publication is a bad idea.
