WASHINGTON - In a commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy in May 1998, President Bill Clinton announced that our nation would do more to protect its citizens against the growing threat of chemical and biological terrorism. As part of this effort, he said, the Department of Defense would form 10 teams to support state and local authorities in the event of an incident involving weapons of mass destruction.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen signed deployment orders March 29 to send reconnaissance and armor assets to support operations in Kosovo.

WASHINGTON - During the first visit by a sitting U.S. Defense Secretary to Nigeria, William S. Cohen will discuss ways the United States can cooperate with the country to “reprofessionalize” the military and place it firmly under civilian control.

FORT MYER, Va. - Outgoing Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre said he will always miss the privilege of serving America, but he won’t miss the demands of the office.

WASHINGTON - "You have to pay the people, and you have to pay the light bill," said Warren Hall, assistant deputy comptroller for programs and budget. "One payment you can defer -- but it's not a great idea -- is you don't have to perform training."

WASHINGTON - Military health officials have saved American taxpayers millions through a testing program that extends the shelf life of drugs.

Washington - It has been the greatest honor and privilege of my life to serve as your Deputy Secretary of Defense.

WASHINGTON - Adult-onset diabetes in Vietnam vets may be associated with exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange, a Air Force report released today states.

NAVAL AIR STATION WHITING FIELD, Fla. - Army grapplers snagged the Greco-Roman, freestyle and overall team titles here Mar. 17-18 to sweep the 2000 Armed Forces Wrestling Championships. The Marines placed second, trailed by the Air Force and the Navy.

WASHINGTON - They’re there when military men and women head overseas. They're there to shower them with love when they come home again. Their thoughts are with them every day, no matter where they are.

WASHINGTON - Operation Atlas Response is starting to wind down, DoD officials announced March 24.

WASHINGTON - A new area of cooperation between DoD and the Immigration and Naturalization Service has led to speedier processing of citizenship requests for service members.

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2000 - The U.S. Army has finished replacing hundreds of Patriot missiles in Southwest Asia and Korea, officials announced March 23.

WASHINGTON - Former White House Press Secretaries Marlin Fitzwater and Mike McCurry became honorary members of the destroyers USS Arleigh Burke and USS Marc Mitscher respectively during a Pentagon ceremony.

WASHINGTON - DoD Inspector General data show the military environment with respect to the homosexual conduct policy is not good.

ARLINGTON, Va. - The "brown bag lunch" audience here at the Women's Memorial roared with laughter when Ann Wood-Kelly, decked out in her World War II uniform, said, "There's a lot of displacement over the years, but the differential was only about five pounds."

WASHINGTON - The next flight test of the National Missile Defense System has been delayed to June 26, DoD officials announced March 21, 2000

GULFPORT, Miss. - Suzanne M. Grizzard told “a little white lie” to get into the Navy in November 1943. She was only 18 years old but told recruiters she was 20 -- the required age for women to join in those days.

WASHINGTON - Looking back on seven years with DoD, Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre said he is "absolutely awed at the quality and professionalism" of American military personnel.

WASHINGTON - Even after nearly three years on the job, John J. Hamre said it's hard to pin down exactly what a deputy secretary of defense is supposed to do. But for someone who isn't sure, he has a long list of accomplishments.

WASHINGTON - "I think before we send young men and women anywhere to fight, we'd better be ready to take care of them when they come home," Mary Wheeler said. "I don't mean just token appreciation. I mean take care of them."

FORT LEE, Va. - Say, for instance, your family has just moved to a new base and you need to know how late the local commissary is open. You could try calling and dealing with the endless choices offered by the mechanical voice on the base switchboard. But wouldn't it be much easier to punch up info about your local store on the Internet without having to go through an elaborate search?

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey - Life got easier March 1 for DoD members moving their privately owned vehicles to or from Turkey.

WASHINGTON - "Diplomacy can only succeed if deterrence remains strong," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said during a recent visit to Seoul, South Korea.

WASHINGTON - As the new commander of U.N. Command, Republic of Korea/U.S. Combined Forces Command and U.S. Forces Korea, Army Gen. Thomas A. Schwartz has one overriding mission -- be ready to stop an attack from the North.

WASHINGTON - The United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea are trying to normalize relations with North Korea, but now it's up to North Korea to respond, according to the U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

ATSUGI NAVAL AIR FACILITY, Japan - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Japanese Defense Minister Tsutomu Kawara have outlined an agreement to deal with a problem that has plagued sailors, Marines and their families based here for many years.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2000 - While Joint Vision 2010 is the right goal for the U.S. military, the commander of Joint Forces Command fears DoD will be nowhere near that goal on the target date.

TOKYO - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen today urged the Japanese people to continue providing host nation support for U.S. forces forward deployed in Japan.

TOKYO - On the eve of Taiwan's presidential election, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen again called for an end to the "verbal jousting" between Taiwan and China.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Bahar Hess was 24 with a young daughter when her husband's aircraft was shot down over Laos on March 29, 1969. "Hope that he was going to be found" was her initial reaction to the devastating news.

MEMPHIS - Lending her story to the history and future of female aviators, Air Force Col. Eileen Collins told a group of nearly 3,000 aerospace professionals about her recent mission as commander of space shuttle STS-93 Columbia.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre will give DoD personnel an update via the Internet on the Defense Reform Initiative March 23.

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - Senior Vietnamese leaders said March 15 they want to put the past aside and move into the future when they met U.S. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

WASHINGTON - A total of 700 U.S. service members are now helping provide food, medicine and shelter to thousands of Mozambicans driven from their homes by flooding, Pentagon officials said March 14.

WASHINGTON - Over the past three years, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and his wife, Janet Langhart Cohen, have come to truly admire and appreciate the nation's military. They now want the nation to do the same.

WASHINGTON - No service member was endangered by DoD issuing 120,000 chemical, biological protective suits in 1996, Defense Logistics Agency Director Army Lt. Gen. Henry T. Glisson said Feb. 28.

HANOI, Vietnam - "The United States has resolved to move forward with Vietnam in a manner that serves our mutual interests in regional stability, security and prosperity," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said here March 14.

WASHINGTON - Ethnic and gender observances are needed as long as discrimination and bigotry exist and the contributions and achievements of women and minorities are overlooked and misrepresented, said William Leftwich, deputy assistant secretary of defense for equal opportunity.

HONG KONG - Hong Kong and China seem to have successfully transitioned into "one country, two systems," according to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

HANOI, Vietnam - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen told reporters his visit here March 13 is a significant step forward in the five-year-old effort to build improved U.S.-Vietnamese relations.

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. - "Because we count!" was the succinct message from Elizabeth Harrington, a sixth grader at the Middle School here, about why Census 2000 is important to Americans.

HANOI, Vietnam - Even though 33 years have passed, America has not forgotten U.S. Navy Cmdr. Richard Rich, an F-4B Phantom pilot.

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan - U.S. officials say sloppy communications may have caused security leaks during the early days of NATO Operation Allied Force last year.

HONG KONG - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen urged China and Taiwan to end their exchange of rhetoric and reconcile peacefully.

WASHINGTON - DoD officials have implemented a policy allowing individuals who have had two common forms of laser eye surgery to enter the military with a medical waiver. Individuals who'd had corrective eye surgery were previously ineligible for military service.

WASHINGTON - If you were to visit U.S. troops in the world's hot spots -- Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and others -- chances are, you'll meet members of the reserve components. Guardsmen and reservists are increasingly mobilizing for missions only active duty troops did a decade ago.

WASHINGTON - Civilian employees can now buy the new inflation-indexed Series I U.S. Savings Bonds through the Payroll Savings Plan. Active and retired military members will be able to buy them beginning April 1.

WASHINGTON - U.S. military presence is vital in the Asian-Pacific region, where "flashpoints" abound, according to the nation's top military officer in the Pacific.

WASHINGTON - If you've served with the military, you probably have "war stories" to tell. Whether you've spent a year in uniform or a career, no one ever forgets basic training or some of the other aspects of duty life.

WASHINGTON - U.S. military operations in response to flooding in southern Africa are changing from "rescue to relief," DoD spokesman Ken Bacon said March 7.

ARLINGTON, Va. - "We live in a world where we're not just dealing with bombs and bullets, we're dealing with 'the next deep breath could kill you,'" Dr. Sue Bailey recently told an audience here.

WASHINGTON - Ever since Defense Secretary William S. Cohen took office nearly four years ago, he's been waiting for the day he'd visit Vietnam. That day has finally arrived.

LACKLAND AFB, Texas - Air Force Tech. Sgt. Gilbert Telles Jr., his wife, Rosita, and 5-year-old son, Teddy, have a new home. The airman's highest-ranking leader turned over the key to the family's newly constructed, two- bedroom townhouse here, March 2.

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - U.S. officials are concerned about increasing violence in Eastern Kosovo, but believe it's critical that Serbs and ethnic Albanians equally take responsibility for stabilizing the situation, DoD's number- two man said.

FORT MYER, Va. - An Armed Forces Tribute and Welcoming Ceremony was the occasion of the changeover of the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

SAN ANTONIO - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen received a standing ovation, Mar. 2 for giving Texans a $102.8 million break on the bill for Kelly Air Force Base.

SAN ANTONIO - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen joined about 16,000 sports fans at the Alamodome to honor three Texas Medal of Honor recipients during half- time of an NBA basketball game March 2.

WASHINGTON - Service members and DoD civilians now have until May 1 before use of the government travel credit card is mandatory, DoD officials said today.

WASHINGTON - Charles Cunningham is the first to acknowledge his goal is daunting, but the head of the Defense Security Service is determined to clear up a backlog of 505,000 background checks for both military and civilian personnel.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced today that it’s boosting assistance to African nations recently devastated with flooding by sending in helicopters to aid search and rescue operations.

WASHINGTON - In this day and age, one thing's for certain -- you need financial savvy to manage your money well. Besides familiar checking accounts, savings accounts and credit cards, there's online banking, debit cards and the lure of Internet shopping.