Army Sergeant Competes for Miss America Title

[Omaha Steve]

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4195165&page=1

By ANDREA CANNING
Jan. 26, 2008


Jill Stevens feels just as comfotable with an army helmet or pagent tiara on her head. (ABCNEWS.com)

Miss America's image has taken a beating lately, but this year an unlikely hero may be coming to rescue of the beleaguered pageant: "GI Jill."

Among the contestants who will parade their talents, poise and beauty before the judges tonight in Las Vegas is Miss Utah -- Army Sgt. Jill Stevens, from Kaysville, Utah, who will trade in her cammies for haute couture.



During its peak, the Miss America pageant drew 30 million viewers for its national television broadcasts and the winners were seen as models for young womanhood. But with changing attitudes and the scandals surrounding some winners, the pageant no longer draws the audiences it once did. Last year, when it was broadcast on Country Music Television, just 2.5 million people watched. This year it will air on The Learning Channel.

If the judges are looking for someone to give the pageant new credibility, Stevens, 24, could be just the ticket.

Before facing the pressures of pageant life, she was saving soldiers' lives in a war zone, working as a combat medic at Bagram Airfield near Kabul, Afghanistan.

"The life of a soldier really prepares you and teaches you to think on your feet and for a stressful situation. It's really prepared me for the pageant," she said. "You have to dodge those bullets. It's a whole new combat zone."

FULL 2 page story and video at link.