Transitioning into civilian life can be tough. Veterans are often advised to look for a job in a field they’re passionate about and excited to join. Remember the old career day adage, Do what you love and you’ll never work a day?
One Marine Corps veteran took that advice to heart and, being a Marine, decided not to do it halfway. As a result, the entertainer known as “Will Pounder” was recently honored as “Best Newcomer” at the AVN Awards, also known as the Adult Video News Awards.
Do we have to spell it out? He’s in X-rated films, people. You know, the kind you watch in your barracks alone. Not with your mom.
“Best Male Newcomer to me means that I’m doing my job well,” Pounder told We Are The Mighty. “I like to provide a safe experience that allows my scene partners to explore themselves sexually and to overall have a fun day so that everyone leaves with a smile on their face.”
His award got us wondering, how many other veterans have decided to earn their keep in the adult film industry?
Spoiler: A lot.
We can speculate on the reasons why, beyond the really obvious reason: sex. Maybe it’s because veterans are already used to frequent, random medical tests, and they’re already comfortable with being naked in front of people? Perhaps they simply miss having close camaraderie with their coworkers?
For the record, Pounder said he thinks the percentage of veterans to non-veterans working in the adult industry is probably about the same as in any other industry. Regardless of the reasoning, he is far from the first to trade fatigues for his birthday suit. He wasn’t even the first vet to score that Best Newcomer award. Brad Knight, a Navy veteran, brought it home in 2016.
But we don’t even have to speculate on why some veterans are drawn to this particular industry. Brick Yates, a Navy veteran who runs a company that produces adult films featuring military service members and veterans, agreed to answer the “why” question for us. He could only speak for his films.
“Active service members are always being told not to fraternize, but we all fantasize about good-looking people we work with,” Yates said. “So, it’s natural for a Marine or sailor or soldier to want to have sex with another service member because the military makes sure that is a very taboo subject still.”
Yates said that, though he understands that some people might find adult films featuring uniformed service members offensive, his company has the exact opposite intent.
“We respect the uniforms these people don to the fullest,” he said, noting that he believes a military fetish is no different than a fetish for police officers or, that plot staple, the pizza delivery guy. “People can disagree with me, and that’s okay. I know not everyone is pleased with my work, but it is truly not meant to be degrading or disrespectful in any manner. We aren’t out here to make the service look bad in any way.”
Though typing your MOS into a job translator isn’t likely to yield a result of “adult film star,” there does seem to be something of a …pipeline. (Sorry.) And while adult entertainment recruiters probably won’t have a table at any on-base hiring fairs, there are active efforts to recruit vets into the industry, ensuring that the supply of veterans-turned-adult-entertainers never dwindles.
This is nothing new. Military veterans have been starring in adult entertainment for decades, dating back to even before adult film legend Johnnie Keyes took off his Army uniform in the early 1970s. Again, we’re not going to post links here, but the by-no-means complete list of vets who’ve gone on to adult entertainment fame includes, Johnni Black (Army), Dia Zerva (Marines), Chayse Evans (also Marines), Julie Rage (Army), Nicole Marciano (Marine Corps), Fiona Cheeks (Marine Corps), Amber Michaels (Air Force), Kymberley Kyle (Army), Viper (Marine Corps), Amanda Addams (Army), Misti Love (Army), Loni Punani (Air Force), Sheena Ryder (Army), Sheena Shaw (Army), Alura Jenson (Navy Army), Kim Kennedy (USMC), Alexis Fawx (Air Force), Lisa Bickels (Army) and Tiffany Lane (Army). Cory Chase (Army), is a vet even non-adult film viewers know as the female film star Ted Cruz got caught peeping.
And then there’s Diamond Foxx, whose name may also be recognizable to those unfamiliar with her work. She was discharged from the Navy for “sexual misconduct” but entered military news again earlier this year when a West Point cadet tried to raise money online so that he could bring her to the Yearling Winter Weekend Banquet as his date.
With all we’ve said about vets in adult entertainment, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention retired Lt. Col. David Conners, also known as “Dave Cummings.” After 25 years of service to the U.S. Army, he went on to start his career in the adult entertainment industry at the age of 55, appearing in hundreds of adult films and being inducted into both the AVN and XRCO (X-rated Critics Organization) Halls of Fame, before his death in 2019.
Though adult films are totally legal for veterans to film, it’s a UCMJ violation for active duty service members to have a side job—any side job—without obtaining prior permission from their command. And commands have a long history of punishing, and even discharging, service members who engage in activities that prejudice “good order and discipline or that is service discrediting,” risk potential “press or public relations coverage,” or “create an improper appearance.”
Yates said the “is this allowed?” question can be tricky.
“I have spoken with a few officers about their Marines being in my films, and it really depends,” he said. “It’s more the details of the film than it is the general fact of them doing adult entertainment. Military brass are people, too, and some don’t care if their personnel do (adult entertainment), but some do. As long as they are safe, not reflecting poorly on their branch of service and not in their own uniform, they are usually fine.”
Still, in 2017, an active-duty-but-almost-retired, long-time happily married SEAL, known as “Jay Voom,” got caught starring in a rated film with his wife and a few others, and nearly lost his retirement pension because of it. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michelle Manhart received a formal reprimand, was removed from her position as a training instructor, and was demoted after she posed nude in a 2007 Playboy magazine spread.
In 2006, seven paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division were court martialed on charges of sodomy, pandering, and engaging in sex acts for money. According to reporters who covered the case, the soldiers were not gay, but because they engaged in homosexual acts on screen at a time when the military was still under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, they were punished for the activity.
Yates also warned that service members and veterans who are interested in entering the adult industry should be savvy and a little suspicious. He said that while there are some really great people in the industry, there are also some bad ones. Potential adult film stars should verify that the companies recruiters claim to represent are legitimate and should request to see references and examples of previous work before engaging in any on-screen work themselves.
All to say, if it’s your dream to turn your night passion into your day job, it might be safest to wait until you’ve got that DD-214. Until then, feel free to enjoy the talents and attributes of your brothers and sisters in arms who’ve found their futures in a whole different kind of service.