Press

It’s not easy being in pageantry and in uniform, but U.S. Air Force officer Madison Marsh — who’s also 2024’s Miss America — is out to change that.

Madison Marsh had already made a name for herself as an officer in the US air force and a Harvard University graduate student when she took the stage at the 2024 Miss America pageant on Sunday night.

She landed the crown.

Madison Marsh, 22, became the first active-duty Air Force officer to be named Miss America when she soared into first place in the annual competition on Sunday.

History was made Sunday night at the 2024 Miss America pageant.

Miss Colorado Madison Marsh was crowned Miss America, becoming the first active-duty military service member to win the title in the pageant’s nearly 100-year history, according to the U.S. Air Force.

The newly minted Miss America is the competition’s first active-duty Air Force officer.

Miss Colorado Madison Marsh was crowned Miss America during the Sunday night ceremony in Orlando. Marsh is a 2023 alum of the Air Force Academy with a degree in physics and a graduate student at the Harvard Kennedy School.

When Grace Stanke was studying nuclear engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she became frustrated at what she saw as a shortage of appreciation among the general public at the role that zero-carbon nuclear power plays in powering America. Stanke made nuclear advocacy her cause.