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 AIM "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.

"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.