Navy veteran trades military uniform for Miss Georgia sash following heartbreaking loss

After eight years of serving her country in a Navy uniform, Jade Kircus is trading it for a pageant sash.At 36, the wife and mother of three is representing Georgia in her first-ever pageant: Miss USA.The competition takes place Aug.

27 in Miami."To be quite honest, I've actually never considered doing pageants," the Navy veteran told Fox News Digital."It's not that I didn't think they were wonderful, and I really admired the women who did them.

I just was always in a season where I wasn't able to do them, and I'm finally in a season where I can give a hundred percent."MISS AMERICA DEFENDS PAGEANT MAKEUP AFTER SOCIAL MEDIA TROLLS TOOK AIMMiss Georgia USA’s Jade Kircus is competing in the Miss USA competition taking place on Aug.27, 2026, in Miami, Florida.

(Courtesy of Miss USA)"I went from the Navy uniform to being in a sash because I really felt like the Lord put it in my heart in October to compete," she said."And when I found out that my state didn't have an actual pageant, I signed up for the open casting call after praying about it for a long time.

So, since October, I've prayed about it.And the door opened.

I joined the open casting call and was selected as Miss Georgia USA."Kircus said it's never too late to chase a dream — or a crown.Jade Kircus served two sea tours aboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1), based in Norfolk, Virginia, and the USS Chung-Hoon, based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.She deployed as a damage control assistant before serving a shore tour at U.S.

Central Command (USCENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida, from 2016 to 2020.(Courtesy of Miss USA)"I never thought that at this point in my life I would be doing something like this," she said. "But you can do hard things.

You can do hard things at any age, at any stage.And I think each person has their own season where they're able to step out, and they're able to really show up in a way that they never thought they could.

And so, whoever is listening, I want you to know that today you can make a choice to...