WASHINGTON - When Bill Owens was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from March 1994 through February 1996, it was commonly known in Pentagon circles that he felt strongly about breaking down the barriers between the civilian society and the military.

WASHINGTON - Sexually transmitted diseases are a real threat to readiness, and service members and leaders need to do more to prevent their spread.

WASHINGTON - DoD will tighten up the way it determines the right size of its fleet of operational support aircraft in response to a recent congressional report.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is taking advantage of the opening of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans to honor World War II veterans.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Joint Forces Command will sponsor an experiment called Millennium Challenge 2000 this summer. The command will work with the service warfighting experiments to help prepare the military for the challenges of the future.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. - President Clinton said the United States has never fought for empire, territory or dominance, "but many, many Americans gave their lives for freedom."

WASHINGTON - "According to public opinion polls, the armed forces are the most highly regarded institution in American society," said sociology professor Charles C. Moskos of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

WASHINGTON - They were cold, wet, weary and battle-scarred. Yet that didn't stop the men with names like Hayashi, Inouye, Kobashigawa, Okutsu, Sakato and Kuwayama from answering the call Oct. 27, 1944, to rescue a battalion surrounded by German forces.

WASHINGTON - World War II hero Yeiichi "Kelly" Kuwayama, 83, was already in the Army when the government started uprooting Japanese Americans and incarcerating them in relocation camps after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

WASHINGTON - Veterans of the Korean War are gearing up for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of that conflict. "They, better than most Americans, understand that 'freedom is not free,'" said retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Nels Running, director of the commemoration committee.

WASHINGTON - For a full minute or so, the two fatigue-clad soldiers in brown boots stood at attention, ramrod straight, among the Pentagon brass.

WASHINGTON - A first-of-its-kind Military Family Forum, hosted by Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and his wife, Janet Langhart Cohen, is slated May 31 at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - The British called it "The Great Silence," as if there had never been a moment's silence in the world before.

WASHINGTON - "It's the sergeant E-5 on the ground who is really making a difference in Kosovo," Army Capt. Samuel Welch said. "It's the NCOs who are out there where the rubber hits the road."

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military and Yahoo! are teaming up to deliver action-packed military jobs to winners of the "Fantasy Careers in Today's Military" contest.

WASHINGTON - After more than a decade of downsizing, DoD has an older civilian work force with a higher average grade, and this worries DoD officials.

WASHINGTON - So some experts say military child care is the best in the nation. What do parents who entrust their children to the program have to say?

WASHINGTON - Twenty-one Asian American World War II heroes are scheduled to have their wartime Distinguished Service Crosses upgraded to Medals of Honor during White House ceremonies on June 21.

SONGKHLA, Thailand - Several Marines were treated to a new sport here recently as members of the Thai Marines put on a show playing a game they call "takraw."

THONG SONG, Thailand - Trapping a cobra for food and determining what jungle plants are edible are only a few survival tactics Alaska-based U.S. soldiers learned here during jungle warfare training at Exercise Cobra Gold 2000.

BAN CHAN KHREM, Thailand - The blazing sun and thick humidity possessed the air as a squad of Thai and American Marines prepared to storm a mound beaten down from mortar fire.

WASHINGTON - In the midst of the pomp and circumstance, the ruffles and flourishes, a simple gesture by Navy Secretary Richard Danzig showed the regard senior leaders have for members of the military team.

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. - Foul weather stayed away just long enough for the president, the secretary of defense and other leaders to tout the accomplishments of America's military on the 50th anniversary of Armed Forces Day.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Since 1864, the 200 acres of land surrounding Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's hilltop mansion, Arlington House, have been hallowed ground, a place for our nation to mourn its fallen heroes and honor their service. Nearly 4 million people visit Arlington National Cemetery each year, and now, through technology, the cemetery is within reach of those around the world who can't travel here.

WASHINGTON - Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the new vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hosted a three-event ceremony at the Pentagon May 17 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Armed Forces Day.

WASHINGTON - Seven U.S. service members are currently in Sierra Leone assessing security and transportation facilities as part of humanitarian efforts in the country.

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT, Thailand - An integral part in any deployment is communications. Service members must be able to communicate with each other to get the mission accomplished.

WASHINGTON - Already hailed as the best of its kind in the nation, DoD's child development program will be even better in the future, according to Linda Smith, head of DoD's Office of Family Policy.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen opposes congressional efforts to set an arbitrary deadline for pulling U.S. troops out of Kosovo.

WASHINGTON - The military needed a way to send messages around the world, and thus, the Internet was born. Troops needed a better way to navigate, and thus GPS, the Global Positioning System, was born.

WASHINGTON - Mix a little new commercial technology into an existing weapon system and the result could be military equipment that's more efficient and less costly to operate.

WASHINGTON - A congressional rejection of permanent normal trading relations with China would have serious strategic repercussions on the United States and Asia, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said.

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2000 - When it comes to child care, military families have the best America has to offer, according to a study by the National Women's Law Center here.

WASHINGTON - We usually think of "The Pentagon" as a pretty "tight-lipped" place. Today, the secretary threw the press a curve.

FORT LEE, Va. - McChord Air Force Base, Wash., Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., and Yongsan and Taegu, South Korea have the military's best commissaries for 1999

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT, Thailand - The 19th annual Cobra Gold exercise kicked off May 9 as seven military jets thundered over the crowd and 31 joint combined high-altitude, low-opening parachutists drifted down onto the parade deck here at Camp Wachirahwud.

WASHINGTON - We call people we don't like a "snake." We call people who stab us in the back a "snake in the grass."

WASHINGTON - Fifty years ago, President Truman issued a proclamation establishing Armed Forces Day to celebrate the unification of all the military forces under a single department and to pay tribute to the servants and protectors of our great Nation.

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT, Thailand - As the last of the main body arrived here for Exercise Cobra Gold 2000, U.S. service members assigned to the camp commandant at the Combined/Joint Task Force headquarters here had been hard at work for weeks getting the camp ready for the exercise.

FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. - For the first time in recent memory, the Department of Defense's Armed Forces Day poster has been designed by a service member.

WASHINGTON - Vickie L. McCall is so passionately involved with doing good things for military women -- and men -- that her husband often teasingly tells her, "In your next life, I'll see you in the Pentagon."

WASHINGTON - The Marine Corps will resume flying its V-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft. Officials said on May 9 that an examination of data from the crash last month that claimed 19 lives did not indicate any mechanical or software failures.

WASHINGTON - Throughout our nation's history, men and women of courage and devotion have willingly defended our nation's liberties at freedom's front in any sky, on any ocean, on any shore. Fifty years ago, President Harry Truman deemed that a day be set aside to commemorate this tradition by honoring those of you who serve this nation in uniform. What President Truman observed then remains true today: It would be impossible to maintain peace and freedom without our Armed Forces.

WASHINGTON - The American Forces Information Service has established a 'Public Outreach Initiative' Web site intended to increase awareness of the outstanding quality of our service members and enhance public understanding and appreciation for their considerable sacrifice and value to our nation.

WASHINGTON - U.S. combat forces of the future will be quick, they will be lethal and, most important, they will fight jointly. But how will this happen and what changes must happen in the military?

ARLINGTON, Va. - The continuing social stigma attached to mental illness is the biggest obstacle mental health experts face in helping patients, reducing suicide rates -- and in the military, improving the fighting force.

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - Two brothers from Naples, Italy, are among the big winners in this year's Armed Services YMCA Young Readers Project Essay Contest.

WASHINGTON - Federal and Puerto Rican law enforcement officials removed more than 200 protesters May 4 from the Vieques Naval Training Area off the east coast of Puerto Rico.

WASHINGTON - Over the last two centuries, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have contributed immeasurably to the richness of our dynamic, multicultural society. Whether recent immigrants or descendants of families who have been here for generations, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders embody many of our Nation's core values, including devotion to family, commitment to hard work, and pride in their heritage.

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - DoD has created a new agency to oversee billions of dollars worth of DoD contracts.

WASHINGTON - “We don’t love the Love Bug virus,” Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said May 4 during a press conference.

WASHINGTON - A Pentagon program that makes life easier and employment possible for thousands of DoD employees with disabilities was lauded recently by Attorney General Janet Reno and the federal agency that sets public access standards for people with disabilities.

MONS, Belgium - Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston now wears two hats and one tops the other.

WASHINGTON - Military leaders come and go. Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark has now joined the ranks of those few who make history.

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - NATO-led forces are working hard to quell continuing ethnic violence in Kosovo, according to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

MUNICH, Germany - The American people appreciate the sacrifice U.S. service members and their families make and recognize the danger troops face in places like Kosovo.

STUTTGART, Germany - Pledging to maintain readiness and improve the quality of life of his troops and their families, Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston assumed command of U.S. European Command here May 2.

WASHINGTON - "Let the public service be a proud and lively career," President Kennedy once said, and each year the nation honors those who heed the call to that proud and lively career with Public Service Recognition Week activities. DoD will participate in this year's observance, May 1-7, with displays on the National Mall here and events at military bases around the world.

WASHINGTON - Imagine flying 60 to 80 hours nonstop and getting 720,000 miles to the gallon. Impossible? Not for some natural-born aviators.

ARLINGTON, Va. - As part of “the greening of the Pentagon,” defense officials dedicated alternative fuel gas pumps May 1 at a Navy Exchange gas station here.

MUNICH, Germany - Whenever his schedule permits, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen makes time to visit U.S. forces in the field. His latest trip to Europe was no exception.

WASHINGTON - It took more than 168 years after the Continental Congress authorized the first ship of a new Navy for the United Colonies on Oct. 13, 1775, before a ship was named for an African American.

MUNICH, Germany - DoD needs $2 billion by the end of May or "the Army is going to have some serious problems," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen warned.

WASHINGTON - Former boxer and trainer Odell Williams was a realistic young man. “Kid Odell” knew he would never win many bouts, much less be a contender for the welterweight title.

WASHINGTON - Far fewer service members are on food stamps than people think, according to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.