YouTuber Falsely Claimed Miss Colorado is Ukrainian Pilot Training to Fly F-16

Miss Colorado 2023, US Air Force 2nd Lt. Madison Marsh, who was crowned Miss America on January 14, 2024, was falsely claimed to be Ukraine's first female pilot undergoing F-16 training by a YouTube channel.

While the headline of the video has since been changed, it originally claimed to show "the first Ukrainian female pilot who will fight using an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet." Marsh is the first active-duty officer from any branch of the military to represent at the national level of the Miss America organization.

After graduating from the US Air Force Academy, and becoming a commissioned officer in the US Air Force, Marsh received a pilot slot, and is currently deciding her career opportunities. She was at Nellis Air Force Base a few weeks ago prepping for her familiarization flight when the photos and video were taken.

The YouTube channel that claimed Marsh was the first female Ukrainian fighter pilot to train on the F-16 used as its thumbnail a Department of Defense photograph that was photoshopped to show a Ukraine flag patch on Marsh's flight suit, replacing the actual patch that reads: "Miss Colorado." The doctored photo is shown in my report.

Photos of Madison Marsh: Senior Airman Jose Miguel T. Tamondong; William R. Lewis, Nellis AFB Public Affairs.

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[VooDooChili]

This is outrageous. This beautiful woman doesn't deserve that. She should be very proud of her achievements. The channel that did this should be ashamed of themselves and taken down.

[L_Train]

I think I found the ghost of Kiev haha

[scottaseigel]

First, thank you for alerting the world to this fraudulent misuse of a military member’s identity. I’m a veteran and I was the husband of an Army officer and aviator, so this kind of BS hits me close to home.

Please consider changing the title. 2LT Marsh did not claim this. “Falsely attributed, ” or “Fraudulently repurposed, ” might be a better video title. As written, the word claimed could imply Madison made this claim. That could end up hurting her reputation (something that’s vitally important to her right now) more than the original false attribution. Perhaps that’s the motive—someone wanting to hurt her chance to win Miss America. She is a celebrity, but also a warfighter so it’s super important that anything said about her is clear, accurate and unlikely to be misunderstood.