The story here is another one I didn’t get around to blogging fully on, but it is one I do take seriously.

Michelle Manhart is an Air Force Technical Instructor or TI (the Air Force does not have Drill Sergeants) at Lackland AFB.  Lackland is the only base the Air Force uses for Basic Military Training.

Late last year she decided to pose nude for Playboy.  Were that not enough, she appeared in the pictorial in full uniform yelling at "trainees" (click the thumbnail for a ‘G’ rated clip)  Via Hot Air:

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.

Now had she been a mechanic at some base in Arkansas likely the row would never have happened.  The critical reason that this was a bad idea was that she was a TI.  As a TI she holds a unique position that is one of no compromise in standards and conflicts.  And the fact is that most trainees are still men, and nude pictures of their Instructor pose a problem to discipline.

Rob at Sayanything gets it:

Usually I have no problem with girls wanting to strip down for magazines like Playboy, but when the girl in question is currently employed as an officer representing our country in the military there’s a bit of a problem.  I can imagine that the troops she’s charged with leading may have a problem taking her seriously once they get a load of her nude in Playboy.