This Chicago Marine Is Kicking A** and Taking Names!

Recruiters told her she would never make it as a Marine. They said she wouldn't even last through boot camp.

Her response? "You can't tell me what I can and can't do! I'll do it in my heels, running backwards!"

And SHE DID! Shannon Ihrke became a sergeant. After four years of active duty, this a**-kicking Minnesota native settled in Chicago where she stumbled into a successful modeling career, earning her the nickname The Hot Marine.

But Ihrke is obviously more than a pretty (actually, gorgeous) face! She earned a Bachelor in Science, and the now 30-year-old is raising horses full time here in the midwest.