represented in the combat arms of the Army and Marine Corps as they are in the services as a whole.

         Black combat deaths in the Iraq war were about 15 percent of the total.

         The study also found that Hispanics and Asian Americans were underrepresented in the AVF compared to their proportion of the population overall.

         Where many commentators said the All Volunteer Force was chiefly dependent on the lower economic classes, an examination by the Congressional Budget Office cited in the report found the socio-economic characteristics of the AVF to be generally reflective of the larger society.

Women in the Services

         Women served in greater numbers and performed a wider variety of military occupations in Operation Desert Storm than in any other conflict. More than 35,000 servicewomen were deployed to Southwest Asia as logisticians, air traffic controllers, engineer equipment mechanics, drivers, reconnaissance aircraft pilots and in scores of other positions. Two women were taken as prisoners of war. Fifteen were killed in the conflict, five by enemy fire.

         As they have in other conflicts, American women showed themselves enormously capable and professional. Although they were deployed to a country that severely restricts women's role in society, American service women performed their missions with distinction.

         During Operation Desert Storm, American society continued to display its willingness to accept the enhanced role for military women that had first revealed itself in Operation Just Cause. While there were some undercurrents of disapproval, discussions more often focused on women's competence and willingness to serve. As a result of the Operation Desert Storm experience, Congress last year repealed the law prohibiting women aviators from flying combat missions.

THE GUARD AND RESERVE

Background

         The U.S. response to the crisis in the Gulf involved the largest mobilization of reserve components since the Korean War of 1950, and the first major mobilization since the Berlin Crisis of 1961- 62.

         The U.S. response also provided the first test of the Total Force Policy. In 1973, following the end of the Vietnam War, the Department of Defense implemented the Total Force Policy, integrating the active and the reserve components info a combined fighting force.

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