WASHINGTON - DoD civilians perform important work worldwide with active duty and reserve component military members to protect the United States and its interests, and the department plans to highlight those contributions throughout the year.

WASHINGTON - For the first time ever, DoD's workmen's compensation bill dropped.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton has extended veterans benefits to Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other herbicides. He also asked Congress to legislate benefits to veterans' children afflicted with spina bifida.

WASHINGTON - Workplace injuries cost the federal government $1.8 billion annually. DoD's portion of the bill: $603 million -- and falling.

WASHINGTON - American women don't have to worry about being drafted should the United States enter into a major conflict -- at least for the time being, a Selective Service System spokesman recently said.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Al Gore said the federal government must do its part to make the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta successful. He said the support will come from numerous federal agencies, including the U.S. military.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William J. Perry said the United States should take advantage of this unique time in history and outlined "preventive defense" as the country's first line of defense.

WASHINGTON - North Korea has agreed to allow U.S. recovery experts into its territory to hunt for remains of service members killed during the Korea War.

WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton said America must enter the next century as a nation of opportunity for all and responsibility from all.

WASHINGTON - A "medical internet" will provide U.S. forces in Central Europe the same level of health care they'd receive back home, officials at the Medical Advanced Technology Management Office said.

WASHINGTON - DoD could begin a test as early as Oct. 1 to provide health care to Medicare-eligible patients over age 65, a senior DoD official said.

WASHINGTON - The Air Force has imposed new constraints on use of personal electronics aboard DoD transport aircraft.

FORT LEE, Va. - Force reductions and base closures have shut the doors of nearly 100 commissaries, but the store benefit continue to play a crucial role in maintaining a high quality of life for service members and their families, said the commissary chief.

WASHINGTON - Re-engineering and streamlining efforts at the Defense Commissary Agency are saving service members and taxpayers money, the agency director recently told members of the House National Security Committee.

WASHINGTON - Deep cuts in the number of new hires each year are creating an older DoD civilian work force and could impact force quality down the road, officials said.

WASHINGTON - Their ideas ranged from delivering humanitarian supplies to war-ravaged Bosnia to reusing rocket pods. Collectively, the 29 service members and civilian employees saved DoD more than $59 million last year.

FORT LEE, Va. - Picture commissaries where more cashiers can tackle long lines. Imagine store shelves as full at 6 p.m. as they are when the store opens. Envision a "help wanted" sign where store managers needing employees can hire them in days not weeks.

WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton launched an international effort to ban anti-personnel land mines.

WASHINGTON - Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda, chief of naval operations, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound May 16.

WASHINGTON, DC - Federal labor unions can't legally strike, but they can -- and do -- challenge managers to improve working conditions.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is sending 30 wrestlers to U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling trials in Concord, Calif.

WASHINGTON - Families of Reserve and National Guard members mobilized for Operation Joint Endeavor have full-time commissary shopping privileges, Defense Commissary Agency officials recently announced.

WASHINGTON - The military needs more money for equipment, but not at the expense of personnel, the military's top general said.

WASHINGTON - The New York State Naval Militia has signed a memorandum of understanding making it easy to operate with the U.S. Navy.

WASHINGTON, DC - Air Force men and Army women captured championships at the 1996 armed forces volleyball tournament, held May 6-9 at Memphis Naval Air Station, Tenn.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William Perry praised uniformed and civilian workers for their dedication to the nation during DoD's observance of Public Service Recognition Week recently.

WASHINGTON - What happens between now and Bosnian elections will dictate how soon American service members can leave, said Gen. George Joulwan during a Pentagon news briefing.

WASHINGTON - Air Force Air Mobility Command officials said they expect an increase in space-available travel this summer. These requests are in addition to the annual summer move season.

WASHINGTON - Department of Defense traffic managers are concerned about the potential for travel and shipping nightmares throughout the southeastern United States because of the Olympics in Atlanta July 21 through Aug. 4.

WASHINGTON - Most of NATO's peace implementation force will stay in Bosnia until after Dec. 20, 1996, according to Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

WASHINGTON - Mexican officers are now training in counterdrug operations at U.S. bases as part of a U.S.-Mexican effort to increase military-to-military cooperation, senior defense officials said.

WASHINGTON - Countless American troops who've served in Germany usually remember their first few weeks overseas when they struggled to learn phrases like "Was ist los?" and "Wo ist der bahnhof, bitte?"

WASHINGTON - A soft-spoken Coast Guard chaplain dazzled top administration officials with two short, simple statements.

WASHINGTON - DoD's latest unmanned reconnaissance air vehicle did what it's supposed to do during a 20-minute test flight, according to DoD officials.

WASHINGTON - In the vast jungle hinterlands of Central and South America, money and might rule the land and drug lords are the richest, most powerful of all.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Secretary of Defense John P. White told Syracuse University students "preventive defense" eliminates the threat of war and saves defense dollars.

WASHINGTON - Defense civilians looking for a way to leave their jobs can now volunteer to replace other civilians facing forced exits.

WASHINGTON - About 70 officers from 24 nations are working side by side May 7 to 16 during Cooperative Zenith, NATO's Partnership for Peace exercise at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., DoD officials said.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Marines killed four attackers April 30 at the embassy compound in Monrovia, Liberia, a DoD spokesman said.

WASHINGTON, DC - "The current system is broken. Don't lock us into a broken system," read a recent letter to Congress signed by the uniformed leaders of the four services.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton nominated Navy Vice Adm. Dennis C. Blair for assignment as director of the Joint Staff in the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - DoD passenger aircraft will receive important safety upgrades, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition Paul Kaminski announced in the Pentagon recently.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy has named the first of a new class of cargo ships in honor of an Army Medal of Honor recipient killed in Somalia.

WASHINGTON - The United States has agreed to expand programs aimed at improving Israel's missile defense, according to Defense Secretary William Perry.

WASHINGTON - A Navy medical student received the Navy Marine Corps Medal for his heroism in saving fellow passengers following the crash of an Amtrak commuter train in Laurel, Md.

WASHINGTON, DC - "Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past are certain to miss the future." -- John F. Kennedy