Miss America 2024 in Tulsa

Madison Marsh is the first active duty military officer to hold the title of Miss America, serving as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. A graduate of the Air Force Academy with a degree in astrophysics, Lt. Marsh is a graduate student at Harvard, but this year holds the title of Miss America and a special duty assignment in recruitment for the Air Force.

We had the opportunity to serve as the official photographers for her visit to Tulsa Air and Space Museum, plus make a special portrait highlighting Madison’s military service and Tulsa’s hometown unit, the 138th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard. The F-16 served as a perfect backdrop for the photo and her remarks, but it was oppressively HOT outside, so we kept the photo shoot to less than two minutes!

If wearing the crown and being an Air Force officer and graduate student wasn’t enough, Madison is also a civilian pilot! In fact, her talent in the Miss America pageant was public speaking, delivering a compelling story as a pilot. “I’m not conventionally talented. I can’t fight, sing, dance or play an instrument – everyone would run off with their eyes and ears closed,” she joked. “So, I did a monologue on my first solo flight. It was really nerve-wracking because I’m not trained in theater … and I knew the weight of what I had to carry in my speech – that I needed to deliver it perfectly, so I was able to carry the strength and the image of what I wanted military women to be portrayed as. So, that pressure was weighing on me backstage, and it was really scary.”

While her career in the Air Force does not include serving as a military pilot (a common misconception), Madison is an advocate for the many opportunities available in the field of aviation, a topic we cover often as it is Oklahoma’s second largest industry.

Miss America was also joined by the current Miss Oklahoma and four former titleholders from 1976, 1978, 2022, and 2023.