Michelle Manhart Interview

Michelle Manhart's 6-year-old son thinks like most grown men. He thinks Hugh Hefner is cool.

How does he even know who Hef is? Because his mommy, former Air Force Staff Sgt. Michelle Manhart, was featured in a sexy spread in the February edition of Playboy magazine, earning her at least a demotion and perhaps worse, pending a final ruling from the Air Force.

So certainly she's got that MILF appeal, but what's also making headlines is that Manhart claims she's not getting a fair shake from the Armed Forces. Beyond the obvious belief that she's merely exercising her First Amendment right, she's also saying there's something far more serious at play.

"It's OK if people don't agree with me or what I did," Manhart said in a lengthy telephone interview from her San Antonio, Texas, home over the weekend. "But people don't know who I am or what I've done or what might have happened to me. A lot of people who don't know what they're talking about say, 'You should have been court-martialed.' I wish I would have been court-martialed. Then I would have stood before a jury of my peers. But I didn't get that. They stripped all the red tape out of it and handled it their own way, without giving me due process."

In addition to the Article 92 charge -- Dereliction of Duty -- the Air Force also slapped Manhart's ass with an Article 134, which, she said, is basically a way for her superiors to charge her with something else for which there might not be a precedent on the books -- say, for example, posing nude in a magazine. A judicial joker's wild, if you please.

"If they didn't like the way you crossed the street, they would cite you with an Article 134," she said. "I'm the first person to be demoted like this. The rules say that probation must precede a demotion, and that never happened. I was just demoted immediately."

So as Manhart waits for a call to find out what her status is, a call that was promised several weeks ago, she's been able to enjoy at least one part of her new daily routine.

"I get go see my kids off to school every morning," said Manhart, who, along with her son, has an 11-year-old daughter with her husband of 11 years, Dustin.

Before all this drama unfolded, she was putting in 18-hour days as a military training instructor. And yes, readers, she did make young boys cry.

"And I take pride in that," she said. "One of the best things to do is make a new recruit cry. You find where they're vulnerable and then you tear them down. But at the same time, your goal is to help them build themselves back up."

Unfortunately for those new recruits, Manhart, 30, and the other Air Force drill instructors are not allowed to touch them.

Though Manhart waits for the next step in her case, don't feel too sorry for her just yet. After the kids leave for school, the phones are ringing with offers. Manhart was just on "The Montel Williams Show" on Monday, she says she's lined up to be a spokesmodel for PETA and talks are beginning about a possible gig as a reality-TV host.

All because she showed us her tits.

OK, not exactly; Manhart caught the acting/modeling bug years ago. The California native said she was determined to grace the pages of Playboy, and at age 21, she started sending pictures into the publication that bills itself as "Entertainment For Men."

"I thought Playboy was the top," she said. "Not many people get featured in that magazine. There are only 12 playmates each year. But I can say I was in the same magazine as Marilyn Monroe, Pam Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith. Those are beautiful women."

Ah, Anna Nicole Smith. We got to that part of the conversation ahead of schedule. Earlier on the day of this interview, a national network anchorwoman described Smith perfectly as "not being particularly good at any one thing," yet she made millions and cameras followed her every move. How do women do it?

"There are a lot of girls who want so badly to make it," Manhart theorized.

But why is taking your clothes off for money and fame considered making it?

"So many young ladies see the Hollywood lifestyle on TV when they're growing up, and at that age, it looks like it would be the perfect life, so that becomes their dream," she said. "And maybe later they're looking at the almighty dollar, and they say, 'I can go shopping and not worry about it,' or, 'I can buy my mom a house.'"

Just like most of the American public, Manhart said she was stunned by the circus that was born out of the Anna Nicole death and subsequent controversies over custody and burial location.

"I was very appalled at how the whole thing was handled," she said. "What we should be seeing on the news is more stories about the soldiers who are in Iraq fighting this war. But we don't let them speak. We watch the news to find out about Britney Spears' latest drama, but we're not allowed to look into the lives of the members of the military."

Ben Affleck says in "Boiler Room" something like, "Anyone who tells you money is the root of all evil doesn't fucking have any." Similarly, some who criticize Manhart for taking her clothes off for Playboy might just be jealous that they don't look as good without any clothes on. If you've got it, flaunt it, right? Well, that's not exactly her take. While she says she thinks it's OK for women to do porn out of enjoyment -- not desparation -- and that she'd support her daughter if she wanted to be in Playboy when she's older, Manhart offers a more thoughtful opinion on being naked, regardless of whether there's a photographer in the room.

"The human body is such a beautiful piece of art," she said. "Short, fat, tall, thin -- everyone has their own preferences or definitions of art."

But what if the neighbors are using the pictures for, shall we say, less-than-artsy purposes?

"That's OK, everybody does it anyway," said Manhart, adding that her husband's friends aren't shy about giving Dustin a hard time at work. "He'll ask them why they were late for work, and they'll say, 'I was looking at your wife's pictures.'"

Manhart was in New York for a little media tour last week, and she said she tried all kinds of food on her first trip here.

"I don't even like pizza, but I think I stopped at every pizza joint in the city," she said. "And I had a hot dog, a gyro, did a little street shopping and even had a bag of warm nuts."

Yes indeed, she even had a bag of warm nuts.

Calling All Perverts

OK, so the next celebrity interview takes me to Playboy magazine.

Michelle Manhart, the staff sergeant who was bounced from the Air Force for appearing in a sexy spread in the February issue of Playboy, will be talking to Primpin' Ain't Easy this weekend. Too bad it's only a telephone interview, but I'll be asking her any questions you want to solicit, so click below and offer up your inquiries.

And would it be redundant to ask you to keep the questions clean?

Submit your questions here.