Miss District of Columbia Deshauna Barber was crowned Miss USA Sunday night in a ceremony broadcast live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

One of several questions posed to the contestants was to define what "confidently beautiful" was. "To me confidently beautiful means understanding that it's not always about your appearance. It's not always about who you're around and how they feel you look, where they feel you come from or your economic background," answered Miss D.C. "Serving in the military has taught me that being confidently beautiful is about being able to earn respect from people regardless of what you look like. As a woman in the military, people associate beauty with weakness and they learn very quickly that I'm extremely strong. And although I'm small, I'm powerful and confidently beautiful is being myself and being very happy with who I've become. Thank you."

Miss Barber, a U.S. Army veteran, was asked earlier in the pageant about the pentagon's decision to open up all combat jobs to women.

"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," she replied. "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 Army."

Source: Eonline.com

More From K945, The Hit Music Channel