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.

It’s along the same lines of having a high school teacher who has posed nude.  She’s just not going to have the respect or the attention (at least not the right sort of attention) of the students in her class.

What’s sort of sad is that I get the idea that Playboy probably used all this for publicity.  She’s a good-looking girl, but she’s not exactly Playboy caliber if you know what I mean.  I’m thinking the folks at the magazine probably ran her in it more because she’s an officer in our military rather than despite it knowing full well that the resulting controversy would be good for their copy sales.

Good points all.

She defends herself in typical liberal fashion, making this a freedom issue. 

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.” 

Sorry but no.  I can not figure out how she could not see how her actions would have been questioned.  

I also question the pictures they used of her in uniform.  One shows her yelling at trainees doing pushups.  Now the Air Force is not usually the "drop and gimme 20" kind of environment.  Also were these Airmen consulted before their pictures were used?  Was this a file photo, a personal photo or did Playboy sneak on base?  Was USAF Public affairs consulted before using training photos?

Regardless, the wait is over, the Air Force has cut her loose….sort of.

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.

Technical Instructor….sigh.

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.

Ok Stop.  No.  Unless they did an Article 15 or Courts Martial on her, she was not demoted.  The fact they say she was on Extended Active Duty explains it perhaps.  She was likely filling a position that is normally an E5 position, and now no longer recalled to Active Duty, she reverted to her previous permanent rank of E4.   When i was a reservist this was common and often people leveraged for positions that were slotted for a higher rank so they could get a temporary promotion.

"I’m disappointed in our system," Manhart told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They went too far with it."

Well someone did anyway…

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."

And that confirms my theory.

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.

Earlier articles mentioned that she is also married.  Interesting ommission. 

GIBSON: Now, Michelle, if I’ve got this straight, you’re married and you have a couple kids.

MANHART: Yes sir.

GIBSON: What does your husband think about this?

MANHART: Like any husband, I imagine, he’s very supportive. When I originally came to him with the idea, he was supportive. He has got his opinions like everyone has opinions but as a family, we all support each other in everything that we do. And he’s been supportive.

Comments and some commentary on these irritate me though.  A lot of people are falling back on stereotypes about the military and are painting this grossly unfair.  I found this:

Of course, it is a double standard that men are allowed to freely watch nude women in the military with no consequences, sexually assault women, with only minor administrative consequences, yet when one of their own drops her clothes she faces discharge.

That is utterly ridiculous.  First of all the pin up days in the military are long gone.  Sexual Harassment and EOT made sure of that in the 80s when I was active duty.  Maybe you can have Playboy in a dorm room, but it is unacceptable in most normal workplaces.  And the other accusations elsewhere are equally dumb.  Men are prosecuted for rape, sexual harassment and all manner of sexual offenses all the time.

Yes there are problems, but the military does not ignore them.

But don’t let the truth stop you.  Michelle will be the martyr for women’s rights.

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