Miss America, Second Lieutenant

By Kayla Bartsch

Monday, January 15, 2024

 

While Iowans trudged through snow, ice, salt, and corn to reach the polls, news from another corner of Americana emerged: An active-duty U.S. Air Force officer was just crowned Miss America, for the first time in national history.

 

Second Lieutenant Madison Marsh from Arkansas — a beaming 22-year-old who recently graduated from the Air Force Academy with a degree in physics — represented her fellow air(wo)men as Miss Colorado in the national contest. Marsh was crowned 2024’s Miss America on Sunday evening in Orlando, Fla.

 

Apart from her endeavors as a fighter-pilot trainee and pageant queen, Marsh is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School through her national Truman Scholarship. Marsh is also a two-time National Astronaut Scholar and National Rhodes Finalist, who has interned for NASA and Harvard Medical School in her spare time.

 

While Marsh is clearly a bright force to be reckoned with, I must admit, I was surprised to see a large beauty contest choose . . . an accomplished, patriotic, Southern gal? Given the, uh, subversive trends of established beauty pageants of late, the latest decision by the folks at Miss America came as a slight shock. I sense something’s afoot!

 

Coincidentally (I think not), Lieutenant Marsh has been crowned at a time when U.S. military recruitment is near an All Time Low — sorry, an “all-time low.” Read it and weep: the latest stats from American Military News:

 

According to the 2024 National Defense Authorization Bill, which was passed by Congress last week and is expected to be signed by President Joe Biden, the U.S. military will be reduced to 1,284,500 personnel, representing the lowest number of service members since before World War II. . . . The U.S. Army is expected to have 445,000 active-duty soldiers, representing an 8.4% or 40,000 decrease in soldiers over the past three years. The U.S. Navy is expected to have a decrease of 10,000 sailors, marking a 3% reduction, and the U.S. Air Force is expected to have a decrease of 13,475 airmen, representing a 4% reduction. Finally, the U.S. Marine Corps is expected to have a decrease of 8,900 active-duty members, marking almost a 5% reduction over the past three years.

 

In short, despite having regularly lowered the goal number of recruits over the past few years, the U.S. is short 40,000 troops of its recruitment goal.

 

I am certain Marsh could do crucial work as a recruiter for the U.S. armed forces during her year as the 2024 Miss America ambassador. Keep on flying, fighting, and winning, Lieutenant Marsh!