"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."
-U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michelle Manhart
In my previous blog I delineated a situation in which an individual of questionable real world expertise chastised me for my style of dress. That is only relevant because he happens to be an Air Force Veteran. I need not repeat my words here as to why his particular position borders on that certain lunacy specially reserved for people who spend their lives stuck on university campuses...you can read it just as easily in the last blog. But this week, the USAF, or rather a product of the USAF again gave me another reason to doubt the bearing and relevance of the entire service branch.
But before I do that I need to point out that Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, Inc, gave his keynote address to some 4,000 packed fans in the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco last week. The Macworld conference is the pinnacle of all things Mac and Steve introduced what will eventually become THE telecommunications device the emulate, the iPhone...notwithstanding the absurd number of lawsuits now pending over the use of that name...and get this, he did it, as he always does, in blue jeans and a long sleeve black shirt. Apparantly the memo regarding dress code did not get to Steve. I'll make a point of emailing him to inform him that certain mid-level Air Force personnel believe that performance is entirely dependent upon what you wear.
But I diverge, this knucklehead, SSG Michelle Manhart, gave us the profound quote above. Now, I admit to having no experience with USAF NCO development, or lack thereof, but apparantly there is confusion in the ranks regarding dress code. In my experience, USAF officers think that shorts are evil; in SSG Manhart's case, any clothing in general appears to be the problem.
Now clearly, SSG Manhart is attractive in a homely-face-made-pretty-by-photoshop-and-make-up-combined-with-a-nice-body sort of way. She probably made a few bucks for taking off her clothes and maybe she needed the money. But at issue here is the concept that a mid-level NCO in the military, a military engaged in a war against militant Islam, can truly be possessed of the notion that there is nothing wrong with her posing semi-clothed in Playboy magazine.
Anyone who has fought in the Middle East knows that one of the grievances with the Western world that is held by Islam is the fact that we are steeped in depravity. Between bootlegged satelite derived episodes of Baywatch, any Arab muslim worth his salt will look away from the TV and freely tell you that the West is soiled by sex and degradation of women. Now largely, soldiers, as representatives of the United States, are held with at least some degree of respect because of their behavior. The typical Middle Eastern muslim sees the discipline and honor by which US troops carry out their duties and there is respect afforded.
Now, thanks to SSG Manhart and her apparant free-thinking understanding of what constitutes 'right' and 'wrong', the entire world now knows that one of the many extra-curricular activities of women in uniform is, in fact, taking off those uniforms. It is all the worse that the airman in question is a married mother. This will not play well in the real world of IEDs and AK-47s.
It might well be that SSG Manhart posed in order to demonstrate that we...the West...will not cave into some repressive notion of radical islamic decency. In some twisted way...her fee for posing aside...her actions might be viewed a 'patriotic'. Unfortunately, anyone with a shred of morals, understands a couple of things: Women...married women aside...posing nude for all the world to see, have some issues and they are not the kind usually conducive to raising healthy, well-balanced children and keeping a healthy home.
People in uniform serve the Constitution and People of the United States of America. That is a challanging mission and there is no room in that mission for degrading your nation's uniform by taking it off. Large breasts and belly-button jewelry has never been part of any essential equipment lists that I have seen and therefor, having such things is at best irrelevant. Displaying such things for some sort of public circus freak show is clearly in opposition to good order and discipline. REAL NCOs are all about order and discipline because in REAL military units, such things save lives and win wars.
If SSG Manhart really needs to truss herself up like an expensive prostitute and take her clothes off for a camera, she should perhaps consider work with another government agency because there is no room for such things in the military.
Now I have my problems with the USAF. I have never understood why we allowed them to leave the Army in the first place and frankly, in assymetric warfare, their relevance is questionable. Aside from some notable exceptions within their ranks, most Air Force personnel are a liability in combat. Take them from their air conditioned air bases and ask them to pull security and you will have generated a significant force protection problem for yourself. Make sure that you have the MEDEVAC frequency close at hand because casualties are coming.
Something is tragically wrong when a non-commissioned officer cannot see the second and third order effects of taking off her clothes. The very least of which will be the lost productivity from airman running down to the BX in order to catch a glimpse of their supervisor in all of her airbrushed glory. The decision to pose semi-nude or completely nude was one of selfishness and not selfless sacrifice. If I were to apply the Army Core Values I could probably assign several more violations as well.
The Army Core Values are;
Loyalty
Duty
Respect
Selfless-Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Courage
Had Manhart been in the Army, any soldier from private to general would be able to clearly articulate why she would have violated the Army's Core Values and why she would be worthy of losing stripes.
Here are the Air Force's Core Values:
Integrity First
Service Before Self
Excellence in All We Do
Kind of vague, eh? Let's see, Manhart didn't lie about her actions and nothing says that you have to keep your clothes on when off duty. As long as she didn't screw the photographer or anyone not her husband (a violation of the UCMJ) she could probably maintain her integrity. Honor is a different thing, oddly not mentioned in the 3 items above.
Service before self? Manhart, likely never served with a ground combat unit in which it becomes very clear that the actions of one can have deadly consequences for the others. If never properly educated in the notion that once one chooses to serve in uniform, for the rest of one's life, one's actions will reflect upon their service and their nation. Service before self is a nice platitude, but in an air conditioned, 9-5 world, when the clock strikes 5:01, Duty, a concept not spoken of in the USAF values, is over.
Excellence in all we do? Well, as I mentioned, SSG Manhart is hot. She does look good, so in her mind, she maintained excellence in all she does.
All of this is very sad. Sad because in an effort to streamline their values, the USAF really has little room by which to discipline this woman. The people who will pay will be the junior airman looking for leadership.
The country needs to make certain that SSG Manhart understands that her decision reflects upon all women in the military. No Arab muslim will fault an American male for wanting to look at Manhart without her clothes; for heaven sakes, many Iraqi's I spoke too could tell me all about Baywatch. They understand that men like to look at women. The real price to be paid will be among female military members. God forbid you get captured as a woman over there because with people like Manhart, the perception that all American women are sluts will not only be reinforced, it will also be exploited before the poor girl is decapitated and dumped in a Baghdad landfill.
So kudos to SSG Manhart and to the USAF. To Manhart for being able to so callously avoid consideration of even the basic ramifications of her behavior on her fellow service personnel, especially those who are deployed; and to the USAF for implementing what is apparantly the most inept basic core values program that any military service has ever had. Such neglect takes real talent. That any NCO could come out of a military training program and think for one moment that appearing nude while associating themselves in ANY way with a United States military branch is okay, speaks volumes about the lack of effectiveness of USAF NCO training and values.
The USAF needs to worry less about irrelevant fighter planes and a lot more about intrinsic leadership training and military bearing. After that it can revisit the notion that it exists to support the Army, but in the short term perhaps we can be grateful if they can just convince their NCOs that leadership implies personal sacrifice and responsibility, that actions have consequences and that taking off your clothes for money is in stark opposition to any military mission.
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