The extent to which 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh found herself in uncharted military territory became apparent at a NASCAR event in February, where her dual-hat duties required her to make quick changes between her Air Force combat uniform and full regalia.
Her schedule would have her meeting the Air Force Thunderbirds display team and then a collection of military generals before transitioning to a more conventional Miss America crowd performance during the race.
Marsh, 23, who will complete her year in January as the first active-duty Miss America, said she realized the need for a level conversation as she rushed to conform to vastly different appearance standards in quick succession .
“Obviously the Miss America people don’t know Air Force uniform standards, so no one knows, ‘Oh wait, you can’t wear eyelashes and a long giant ponytail and red lipstick and eye shadow in uniform,’” Marsh said. . “And it’s like, no, I can’t do both at the same time.”
Eyelashes aside, Marsh, a 2023 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and Truman Scholar whose next plans include a program at Harvard, found a mutually beneficial way to express her dual identity in 2024. In conversations that began when she was crowned Miss Colorado in May 2023, she began to map out with her chain of command how it might be feasible and practical to pursue a potential Miss America role while on active duty.
“I know a lot of people from all over the country, at a lot of different bases, had to spend a lot of time after I won,” she said, “figuring out the legal logistics of what this is actually going to look like.” and trying to look at some of the Air Force memos and how we can actually make this work.
2nd Lt. Madison Marsh at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, February 2024. (Miriam Thurber/Air Force)
Ultimately, the Air Force moved her to a highly tailored public affairs position, building on her existing series of public engagements for Miss America to conduct outreach for the service and generate awareness and interest in joining the military.
Since winning the title in January, Marsh said, she has participated in 106 Air Force-related public meetings involving conversations with students, parents and other “influencers” to promote military service.
“We’ve really found a great way to overlap both of these jobs to make sure we’re still meeting the standard and reaching the people in the area that we want to reach,” she said.
Marsh’s grueling travel schedule did not allow for much conventional military activity and experience in what is essentially her first active duty role. Marsh’s time spent on base at her home station, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, has largely consisted of mandatory activities, including drug testing, medical appointments, meetings with commanding officers and performance reviews, she said.
Occasionally, she said, she was recognized by other service members while running errands at utilities and wearing a ball cap. While she enjoys making connections, she says, it’s also a bit stressful given the appearance standards and requirements for Miss America.
“Even last week I was outprocessing for my base and showed up to work without makeup,” she said. “And one of the people working on the front said, ‘Oh, we’ve got to get the major.’”
Even without makeup, she said, she agreed to a group photo with the office staff.
“Everyone always has the opportunity to do little things for other people and make their day,” Marsh said. “So it was cool to make people so happy this year.”
Even beyond her top title in one of the country’s most prestigious pageants, Marsh’s achievements and ambitions demonstrate her fearlessness.
She has interned at prestigious organizations such as NASA; became an activist for pancreatic cancer research at age 17 after her mother’s death from the disease; holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do; and has a pilot’s license, which sparked her initial ambition to fly for the Air Force.
Marsh told Military Times that her experience with military training should be an encouragement to young women who fear they won’t be able to cope in uniform or in war.
Polls released by the Department of Defense in December showed that only one in four women between the ages of 16 and 21 believe they can survive boot camp, and only 8% believe they have what it takes to fight in a war to fight.
“When I went to base [training] I was 17 years old. In high school I was on the cheer team. I was really skinny…maybe 110 pounds,” Marsh said. “The year before I went to base I worked very hard to ensure that I would go above and beyond the standards expected of me, and also have the mental resilience to keep going when you fail. I think the willingness to learn will take people so much further, and also not close you off from opportunities.”
Reflecting on her experiences as a Truman Scholar and her upcoming studies at the Harvard Kennedy School, Marsh noted, “I never would have gotten that if I had left myself out of the equation before even coming to the base.”
After Marsh relinquishes her crown, she will head to Hanscom Air Base, Massachusetts, where she will complete her senior year plus studies to earn a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard under the Air Force’s Civilian Institutions program Institute of Technology.
Now that her fiancé is also in the Air Force, Marsh said she plans to continue serving, though she’s not entirely sure how long she’ll stay or what military career she’ll pursue. While she initially joined out of a desire to become a pilot, Marsh said she has ruled out a return to flight training, adding that she wants to find a service job that she is “completely passionate about.”
“The Air Force has treated me extremely well so far,” she said. “So I can only imagine what other opportunities are in store.”
