Michelle Manhart

Michelle Manhart is a former Staff Sergeant for the U.S. Air Force who was demoted to Senior Airman in 2007, after posing nude for Playboy.

Having variously worked for the Air Force and Air National Guard since 1994, Manhart was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, when she appeared in the February 2007 edition of Playboy. Her spread, entitled Tough Love, featured her both clothed and nude, brandishing firearms. She was subsequently disciplined, demoted and investigated—a state of affairs that led to her resignation. The Air Force issued a statement to the effect that she "does not meet the high standards we expect of our airmen." Manhart, however, was defiant, insisting to the press that she had done nothing wrong, and attesting to her patriotism. Manhart was not the first active member of the military to pose for Playboy; two female Navy servicemen had previously posed, and were discharged.