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Utah Guard sgt. aims for Miss America 2008

Sgt. Jill Stevens will trade in her Army uniform for a designer dress when she participates in the illustrious Miss America pageant Jan. 26 in Las Vegas.

To boost publicity of “GI Jill,” the Army recently launched a Web site devoted to chronicling her preparation for the event, which will air live on TLC. The site features a blog written by Stevens.

Stevens is a member of the Utah National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment. She had just started nursing school at Southern Utah University in the fall of 2005 when the school’s pageant director recruited her to run for Miss SUU, according to the Army.

“I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ I wear combat boots; I don’t do heels,” she said in a statement.

That year, she won Miss SUU and went on to become second runner-up in the 2006 Miss Utah pageant, according to the Army.

Stevens joined the Army National Guard six months before 9/11. Two years later, she deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where she cared for 10 to 40 soldiers a day at the medical aid station.

Her rise through the ranks — both military and pageant — will be the subject of a feature article in the December issue of Soldiers magazine.

To help viewers get to know each of the 52 Miss America contestants, TLC will air a new reality series the night before the pageant.

VIDEO

See video of Sgt. Jill Stevens and her road to the Miss America pageant

DISCUSS: G.I. Jill's Miss America run