Jill Stevens

Jill Stevens
Born	(1983-02-28) February 28, 1983 (age 41)
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Army National Guard
Years of service	2001–?
Rank	Sergeant
Unit	1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment
Battles/wars	Afghanistan War

Jill Stevens
Born	(1983-02-28) February 28, 1983 (age 41)
Education	Southern Utah University
Spouse	Kerry Shepherd (m. 2009)
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title	Miss Davis County 2007 Miss Utah 2007
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Major competition(s)	Miss America 2008 (Top 16)

Jill Stevens (born February 28, 1983) is a Miss Utah 2007. She was chosen as Miss Southern Utah University and Miss Davis County. She is a combat medic in the Utah Army National Guard and served as a medic during an 18-month tour in Afghanistan from 2004 to 2006 supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.^[1]

Biography

A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Stevens grew up in Utah's Davis County. Her mother is a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Stevens joined the Army National Guard six months before 9/11.^[2] In November 2003, she was deployed to Afghanistan, returning home in April 2005. She has earned five medals for her outstanding service S was the first female finisher of the inaugural Afghanistan Marathon,^[3] making a total of 12 marathons she has completed together with earning the highest Fitness award during Army Basic Training. In representing the Army National Guard, Sergeant Stevens^[when?] addressed generals from 40 different nations gathered at Hill Air Force Base.

Stevens graduated summa cum laude from the nursing program at Southern Utah University on a four-year leadership scholarship. She placed third in the Cinco De Mayo Sailboat Regatta in Mexico.^{[citation needed]} She was chosen as one of four "Women of Strength" featured in Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine's September/October 2007 issue. Stevens has been a fitness instructor for Gold's Gym for several years, as well as a bread baker for Great Harvest.

Stevens was Miss Utah 2007, and competed in the Miss America Pageant in January 2008. On January 26, 2008, she was named the "America's Choice" semi-finalist in the Miss America 2008 pageant. This was the first time a 16th semi-finalist was named in the competition, and she was the only semi-finalist not to be selected by the judges. Stevens was eliminated after the swimsuit competition, along with five other semi-finalists. She was the only contestant to wear a one-piece swimsuit.^[4] When her name was announced, she dropped to the stage and started doing push-ups.

Stevens is a member of the MormonTimes.com racing team.^[5]

Stevens married Kerry Shepherd in January 2009.^[6]

References

Sources

• Farmer, Molly (1 July 2008), "Jill Stevens: beauty queen, runner, soldier, and author", MormonTimes, retrieved 2009-08-30
• Fantin, Linda (6 December 2007), "Ten Hut! The military's Miss America candidate", Newsweek, retrieved 2009-08-30
• "Miss Utah is medic for Utah Guard", Deseret Morning News, 3 July 2007, retrieved 2009-08-30
• G.I. Jill^{[dead link]} by Joshua Hudson, May 2008, G.I. Jobs magazine

External links

• Media related to Jill Stevens at Wikimedia Commons
• ARMY.MIL - G.I. Jill Journal
• It's All Good, by Jill Stevens, ISBN 978-1-932898-93-4