<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div><span></span></div><div><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div><span></span></div><div><div>Courtesy of CNN at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/entertainment/miss-usa-winner-crowned/">http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/entertainment/miss-usa-winner-crowned/</a></div><div><br></div><div>---------------------------------</div><div><div class="el__leafmedia el__leafmedia--sourced-paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="pg-headline" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 4.1333333333rem; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; font-family: CNN, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, Utkal, sans-serif; font-weight: 300; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.064516129; color: rgb(38, 38, 38); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">Army Reserve officer Deshauna Barber crowned Miss USA 2016</h1><p class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><cite class="el-editorial-source" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-style: normal; font-weight: 700;">(CNN) - </cite>An Army Reserve officer and IT analyst from the District of Columbia has been crowned Miss USA 2016 after mounting a strong defense of women in combat roles in the military.</span></p></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Deshauna Barber, a 26-year-old from the nation's capital, gave the answer during the interview section of the pageant in Las Vegas on Sunday.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">asked by judge Joe Zee whether the Pentagon's decision to open up all combat roles to women had "put political correctness over our military's ability to perform," 1st Lt. Barber responded:</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"As a woman in the United States Army, I think it was an amazing job by our government to allow women to integrate into every branch of the military." </span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She continued: "We are just as tough as men. As a commander of my unit, I'm powerful, I am dedicated and it is important that we recognize that gender does not limit us in the United States."</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The daughter of a retired Army master sergeant, Barber was commissioned as a quartermaster officer in 2011 and serves as a logistics commander for the 988th Quartermaster Detachment Unit at Fort Meade, Maryland, according to her bio on the pageant's website.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She works full-time as an IT analyst for the U.S. Department of Commerce, it said.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Barber hopes to use her profile as Miss USA to highlight the health issues veterans face when they return from combat, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, her bio said.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Barber won the pageant ahead of first runner-up Chelsea Hardin, Miss Hawaii, and second runner-up Emanii Davis, Miss Georgia.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">She will now go on to represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant. </span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Miss USA organizers also addressed a prominent mishap from the December Miss Universe pageant, when host Steve Harvey <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/20/us/miss-universe-wrong-contestant-crowned/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; -webkit-transition: color 0.2s; transition: color 0.2s;">flubbed the announcement </a>of the winner and was widely ridiculed for it. </span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This time, he appeared in a video poking fun at his mistake.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">--------------------</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Deshauna Barber reacts after being crowned Miss USA 2016 on Sunday.</span></div><div class="zn-body__paragraph" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 15px; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 1.6666666667; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/Photos/Miss_USA_2016.jpg">http://www.moscowcares.com/Photos/Miss_USA_2016.jpg</a></div></div></div></div></div><div>---------------------------------<br><br><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div> </div></div></div></div></div></body></html>