Playboy-Posing Sergeant Demoted

Air Force Noncom Who Posed Nude For Magazine Also Removed From Active Duty

(AP)  An Air Force drill sergeant and former Iowa National Guard member 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.

[ecuadoriana]

dirtydog55, I was being sarcastic, duh. My sarcasm was fueled by the hypocricy of the situation.

And why is it that you feel the need to use the typical threat of "go back to where you came from" when someone says something you don't like or that you don't agree with? Huh? Threatened? Sad, especially because I was born here of irish descent parents- not from ecuador. How come no one threatens the irish with "go back..."? Is it because we're white?

dirtydog55, you should go back to the sad little barn you were raised in & shut the door behind you.

[chrisiansnan]

She knew she was going to get ripped when she posed. When you sign and take the oath to be in the military, you become government property. Anyone who has been in the service knows you wear your uniform 24/7. And most people who have served wear it proudly for life.

[xenalily]

tuckerndfw- I highly doubt she will be making millions off of this Playboy shoot- they don't get that much money. Maybe the book deal or the Lifetime Movie of the Week could get her there if this story gets more than its 15 minutes. I don't agree with what she did but perhaps this will lead her in to a career path that better suits her needs and those of her children and I wish her the best. I have a hard time though viewing Manhart as a feminist hero. Who do you have more respect for- someone who demands attention by using her intelligence to make her statement or someone who flashes her vajayjay to get attention? Gee... that's a tough one isn't it?

[von67trumpet]

My service time was in the U.S. Army in the early 70's. A fine looking woman like Michelle Manhart would have been assigned to the battalion staff or the general's staff. She boosts my morale without trying. Why the hypocritical double standard regarding appropriate conduct for men, but not women? If you want thinking men and women in today's armed forces, allow them the latitude to be more than one-dimensional robots, following the commands of their "superiors". Off duty time should be her own time, not subject to review, unless she harms others or herself. Puritanical jealousy from military wives might have something to do with her administrative disciplinary action. I bet the U.S. Army would enlist her in a flat New York minute. Best regards on your future, Michelle.

[acephoenix1]

The Air Force cited that her actions "don't comply with the integrity of the Air Force's core values." Yet the Air Force seems to be okay with their cadets sexually harassing fellow female cadets, even raping them. Who are they to preach about "values"? I thought it was extemely tasteful and did nothing to diminish my already low opinion of the Air Force.

[semperfeisty]

"People, she gets extra money to support those kids from the military!! And it's PER KID!"

Um, no she doesn't. She gets basic pay, the usual allowances (BAS, per diem, etc) and BAH(Basic Allowance for Housing), at the with dependents rate, but it's the same whether she has one dependent or 15.

[down-ndirty]

"She'll end-up a piece of porn trash somewhere with a pimp. Maybe another Anna Nicloe life of "famous for being famous" ???? Look at what happened to that family. Tragic!" Posted by mdc76082

Yeah, right! What a simple, narrow, one-track mind you have. I would think that 25 years in the Navy would have given you a broader perspective on life. You only look at the negative.

After 28 years in the Navy, living and working with all the hypocracy, I definitely have a much broader perspective.

Yeah, she made a mistake. So friggin' what? Simple-minded pious folk like you would make her pay the rest of her life for that one mistake.

Go girl! Greater things than serving an ungrateful government are awaiting you. Go get 'em.

[down-ndirty]

"Let me see, potentially millions of dollars as a Playboy model, or a life of misery and uselessness as an Air Force NCO." Posted by tuckerndfw

...or the luxurious life of a Hollywood star, a la Victoria Principal, an Air Force 'brat' who also posed nude in Playboy. Her pay for nine years on 'Dallas' is several times more than I made in the 28 years I faithfully served my country, only to be stabbed in the back by Reagan.

I hope that all this 'negative' attention will result in a chance for Michelle to have an opportunity for a much better life.

Eat your heart out all you pious hypocrites and name-calling hapless losers.

[nynative1340]

"Maybee they can save a few bucks in her medical records and replace them exrays, but lets not disgrace the uniform." Posted by fizzal

Not exactly sure what you mean. What does this have to do with her medical records. Whatever...

However, what's more disgraceful than sending the 'uniform' to fight in an illegal war WITHOUT proper protection?? If anyone is a disgrace to the uniform, it's our COMMANDER IN CHIEF!

Michelle, you go, girl!! Anyone who can trade a few 'snapshots' for a couple hundred thousand dollars is a much better business person that loser running our government 'business.'

You've got my vote, Michelle!

[nynative1340]

"She was removed from active duty status, and thus reverted to National Guard status,... It is not up to the Air Force %u2014 it is not our jurisdiction to discharge her."

and

"...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."

A typical military SNAFU!! A situation FUBAR!!

She's not in the Air Force, and she's not in the Guard, and she hasn't been formally discharged. If she simply walks away, she's AWOL.

How much more phuckked up can the military make it? She's in limbo, or may pergatory is a better word.

[dirtydog55]

"Anyone caught with a nudie magazine should be court marshalled & publicly humiliated for having dirty & impure thoughts. Problem solved."
Posted by ecuadoriana

Maybe you should go back to Equador where you can be the dictator. Besides, it difficult to enforce that rule when most of the officers, junior and senior alike, read Playboy, and even Penthouse, which definitely is porn.

Hoorah for Michelle Manhart. I hope she gets into politics...

[down-ndirty]

Just another example of the double-standard we live under, especially in the military. Granted, the U.S. military is about as close to a dictatorship as you can get, but this is the 21st century.

It's ok for men to have Playboy posters in their lockers and rooms, but it's not ok for women to pose for them? What a hypocritical joke?

For too many years, members of the U.S. military have been betrayed by the military and especially by the government they so faithfully serve. Reagan and Bush are the biggest betrayers of all.

For all the men on this board who resorted to calling her names: You're just upset that you have never had, and will never have, a woman like her. A mother of two!! You hapless saps should be so lucky if your woman looks half that good after even one kid.

[tuckerndfw]

"was just very poor judgement on her part . . ."

Posted by xenalily at 05:14 PM : Feb 15, 2007

Poor judgment?

Let me see, potentially millions of dollars as a Playboy model, or a life of misery and uselessness as an Air Force NCO.

Which should a person choose?

Hmm....

She is clearly qualified to be commander in chief. She has excellent judgment.

[xenalily]

ecuadoriana- no one is questioning whether men and women in the armed forces read Playboy and that isn't the issue. She posed and accepted money for posing in a uniform that is supposed to be designated for her work. Even most waiters and waitresses are told that if they want to sit at the bar or join a party in the restaurant after their shift they must remove anything with the restaurant logo on it. How did she think that posing in her uniform for an international magazine wouldn't be noticed? t was just very poor judgement on her part to believe she would never face consequences for her actions. Honestly, spreading your legs for a magazine, whether you are a male or a female, brings you down a whole lot of pegs on the respect scale. And it doesn't matter that it's "just Playboy" it's still tacky and unprofessional.

[anopinion1]

if you do it wrong she makes you do it again...

[anopinion1]

you know what the best thing about dating a school teacher is?????

[ecuadoriana]

I'm certainly no fan of the porn industry, but I have to wonder- who saw the fotos of her in playboy & why was he/she looking in the first place?

So, it's ok for the wonderful men & women in uniform to, eh hem, read playboy, but it's not ok for a member of the armed forces to pose for an "article" in playboy!?

Smells like a double standard to me. Perhaps nudie magazines & pin-ups, the educational reading staple of the armed forces since photography was invented, should be banned in the service? Anyone caught with a nudie magazine should be court marshalled & publicly humiliated for having dirty & impure thoughts.

Problem solved.

[fizzal-2009]

Maybee they can save a few bucks in her medical records and replace them exrays, but lets not disgrace the uniform.

[xenalily]

And la voila- the last three posts are a big reason why she should be demoted. Everyone has lost respect for her.

[agnim]

I just love a woman out of uniform. LOL