About 37,000 American women took part in the Persian Gulf War, the largest deployment of women in history. Ten percent of these women were Navy personnel. They served on support ships - ammunition, supply, tenders, and oilers - and in Military Sealift and Combat Logistics Force vessels. Others were in helicopter combat support squadrons, construction battalions, and in a cargo-handling and port unit at Bahrain.

During Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield, Navy women served in Construction Battalion Units (CBUs) at Al Jubayl, Saudi Arabia, home to one of the largest commercial piers in the world. CBUs are responsible for erecting and providing public works support to Fleet Hospitals during wartime (note the medical vehicle in the background). The nickname for CBs is Seabees, hence the artist dubbed the woman in this painting, the Queen Bee.

LCDR Bill Reuter looks on as LCDR Lisa Novak ascends an F/A-18 Hornet at Naval Test Pilots School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

In 1991, the Navy began assigning women aviators to combat aircraft squadrons. By 1995, there were 206 female pilots, including 82 combat aviators. The nation's first "strike-fighter," the F/A-18 combines firepower with excellent fighter and self-defense capabilities. The Navy's Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron proudly flies them. In 2008 there were two female Blue Angels pilots.

LT Steve Hope and LTjg Andrea Quy talk in front of a T-2C Buckeye at Naval Test Pilots School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland.

The T-2C Buckeye is used for intermediate and advanced training for Navy and Marine Corps pilots and Naval Flight Officers in training for jet carrier aviation and tactical strike missions.

The watercolor is of RADM Nora Tyson. She was the first two star woman Commander, Strike Group Two embarked with USS George H W Bush in the Mediterranean with 6th Fleet.