WASHINGTON - If the situation in Iraq warrants military action, it will not be a pinprick, Central Command Commander Marine Corps Gen. Anthony Zinni said Nov. 26.

WASHINGTON - It's not quite business as usual, but U-2 reconnaissance flights are continuing over Iraq and U.N. inspectors there are back to work after a nearly month-long standoff with Saddam Hussein's government.

WASHINGTON - The world was left with a deadly legacy at the end of the Cold War -- many former Soviet states held arsenals filled with chemical and biological weapons, nuclear warheads, intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear bombers and submarines.

WASHINGTON - Iraq's Saddam Hussein lost in his recent tiff over U.N. weapons inspections, and he'll keep losing until he complies fully with U.N. provisions, Defense Secretary William Cohen said Nov. 25.

WASHINGTON - U.S. service members will help Kazakhstan's military in the year ahead to be all it can be.

WASHINGTON - The California National Guard hosted Ukrainian military service members Nov. 14-23 in Exercise Peaceshield '97, the first ever conducted by a National Guard state headquarters.

WASHINGTON - Despite tough goals, military recruiters came through, announced Fred Pang, assistant defense secretary for force management policy.

WASHINGTON - More frequent physical and dental exams and annual health certification are measures DoD could soon adopt to help keep members of the reserve components fit and ready for duty. The measures are among the objectives a reserve health care summit will debate during three sessions over the next several months.

WASHINGTON - Service members will get a 2.8 percent pay raise beginning Jan. 1 as part of the fiscal 1998 Defense Authorization Act President Clinton signed Nov. 18.

WASHINGTON - When we look around the world, we see how much America has to be thankful for.

WASHINGTON - Dick Baker holds eagle feathers and a sacred pipe following a Nov. 10 ceremony honoring Indians who have fought in America's wars in Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre (second from left) opens the first meeting of his newly formed Defense Management Council, which will direct DoD's Defense Reform Initiative effort.

WASHINGTON - Elizabeth Bilby of Arizona will become chair of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services on Jan. 1.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton pledged a "new benefits system" to aid the recovery of veterans suffering as yet unexplained Gulf War illnesses.

WASHINGTON - DoD, in conjunction with the departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, has awarded $12 million for 12 new Gulf War illness research projects.

WASHINGTON - President Bill Clinton thanked military families for the sacrifices they make on behalf of the nation and for their successes in meeting the challenges of military life.

WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials said American service members likely weren't exposed to chemical weapons or agents when they occupied Tallil Air Base, Iraq, in 1991.

WASHINGTON - Service members may soon carry their medical records in dog-tag-like computer chips if DoD field testing goes well.

WASHINGTON - Service members will undergo a comprehensive health screening to determine their medical condition before they deploy, DoD officials said.

WASHINGTON - Newly mandated cuts won't be easy but are necessary to "eliminate the fat and save the muscle," Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre told Pentagon senior managers Nov. 13.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. - It was both a tribute and a warning. It was both a declaration of national pride and a call for international commitment. And it was a promise for a better tomorrow.

WASHINGTON - There's no law that says DoD hospitals have to be reviewed and accredited by outside organizations. But defense health officials won't have it any other way.

WASHINGTON - Retired Air Force Technical Sgt. Bill Romedy has gone to the Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Md., for health care since he transferred to the region 37 years ago.

WASHINGTON - Low-cost dental insurance that becomes available to military retirees Feb. 1, 1998, will offer enrollees an annual dental care entitlement of $1,000.

WASHINGTON - In the spring of 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers marched for days through sweltering Philippine jungles -- goaded harshly by their Japanese captors. Those who survived faced years of hardship in prisoner-of-war camps. Others were wounded or killed when unmarked enemy ships transporting prisoners to Japan were attacked by U.S. air and naval forces.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton called for strong U.N. actions to force Iraq to allow Americans on U.N. weapon inspection teams.

WASHINGTON - Just say "no" to miles of files, countless copies, acres of forms, rules and regulations. Paper be gone, says John Hamre, DoD's new deputy defense secretary and former comptroller.

WASHINGTON - DoD will soon be leaner and more agile as defense leaders downsize and reorganize the department's highest echelons, open more jobs to private competition and eliminate excess infrastructure.

WASHINGTON - Service members can expect to see easier travel rules and a better system for moving household goods as DoD revamps the way it does business, Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre said at the Pentagon Nov. 8.

WASHINGTON - The United States recently bought 21 nuclear-capable MiG-29 fighter jets from the Republic of Moldova to keep them out of the hands of potential enemies, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen announced Nov. 4.

WASHINGTON - Six months after the United States outlawed chemical weapons, Russia is following suit.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Al Gore praised the Defense Department Nov. 10 for its plan to become "leaner, more competitive and more efficient in its business practices."

WASHINGTON - Five companies received the Employer Support Freedom Award Nov. 5 for outstanding service as employers of reserve component personnel.

WASHINGTON - Five military commands received recognition for actions in helping combat drugs.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Postal Service officials have set holiday mailing deadlines to help ensure timely delivery of packages around the world. Nov. 10 is the deadline for surface mail to the Caribbean and Europe, and Nov. 24 to Canada. Other surface mail deadlines to some countries have already passed, officials noted.

WASHINGTON - Remains of another missing Korean War-era U.S. soldier were returned recently to the United States from North Korea.

WASHINGTON - The remains of five American servicemen previously unaccounted for from Southeast Asia have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial in the United States.

WASHINGTON - Since the end of World War I, America has set aside this day to celebrate the men and women who served so proudly in the defense of the United States. Throughout our history, veterans have played a key role in the growth of the nation. They explored the wilderness, helped build the canals and railroads that knit the country together, and guarded the frontier. And on a thousand battlefields, on land, at sea and in the air, they fought the great battles that decided our fate as a people and a country.