WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. troops in Baghdad, delivered an upbeat assessment today of the future in and around Iraq's capital city.

WASHINGTON - A group of NASCAR celebrities, team owners, track owners and civilian employers of Guard and Reserve members left Dec. 29 for a five-day trip to Southwest Asia to visit deployed service members and highlight the importance of support for the Guard and Reserve.

WASHINGTON - Overseas deployments are always tough on families. Naturally, the initial focus falls upon the emotional cost of separation. But, for Guardsmen and reservists who own small businesses, the cost involved in a deployment takes on a whole new meaning.

WASHINGTON - If you ask retired Navy Vice Admiral Arthur Cebrowski why service members and Defense Department civilian employees should care about efforts to transform the military, he is neither hesitant nor uncertain in his response.

WASHINGTION - Alice Rodgers, a single mother, paid more than $1,000 for round-trip tickets from Tipton, Iowa, so she and her daughter, Lindsey, could visit her son, who is recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here from wounds he suffered in an ambush in Iraq.

WASHINGTON - Trials of detainees accused of terrorist acts came a step closer today, following three moves announced by senior Pentagon officials.

WASHINGTON - Coalition personnel are working with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil to head off gasoline smuggling, sabotage of the oil industry infrastructure and black-market profiteering. Officials said these continue to be among the greatest problems facing the Iraqi people.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is considering creating a military force that would be dedicated to stability and reconstruction operations, according to retired Navy Vice Adm. Arthur Cebrowski, chief of the Defense Department's Office of Force Transformation.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - It was late November 1990 and the build-up of troops, equipment and supplies for the first Persian Gulf War had begun.

WASHINGTON - If you want to see the face of transformation if you want to see what it looks like in action you need not look any further than Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

WASHINGTON - Proving that disaster knows no politics, U.S. service members are delivering humanitarian aid to Iran in the wake of an earthquake that has left an estimated 25,000 Iranians dead.

WASHINGTON - Though the number of attacks by insurgents in Iraq continues the decline it has shown since mid-September, the coalition isn't ready to say the trend will continue.

WASHINGTON - Among other thoughts at Christmas, Americans think of the brave military men and women who are fighting terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere "so we do not meet these killers on our own streets," President Bush said in his weekly radio address today.

WASHINGTON - Four soldiers were killed in operations in Iraq and another was killed in an accident Dec. 24 to 26, coalition officials announced.

WASHINGTON - Separate incidents in Iraq today claimed the lives of U.S. soldiers and Iraqis.

WASHINGTON - Finding ways to improve commissary benefits tops the Defense Department's list of things to do to enhance quality of life for service members and their families.

BAHGDAD, Iraq - He's opened the canals that supply water to farmers across southern Baghdad, provided a medical clinic to an isolated community, and given new schoolbooks to young Iraqi children. But more importantly, he is giving his soldiers the chance to make a difference for the Iraqi people.

WASHINGTON - Army Spc. Rebecca Burt loves Christmas. At home in Antioch, Calif., her family decorates everything in sight, bakes all sorts of goodies and holds huge family dinners.

WASHINGTON - They may be thousands of miles away from home, but U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan are planning full holiday schedules to add a bit of cheer to their ongoing 24-7 mission requirements.

WASHINGTON - Transformation of DoD budgetary practices during the past few years is having a rippling effect, reaching far outside the Pentagon and positively influencing how private industry views working with the Defense Department.

WASHINGTON - It gives me great pleasure to congratulate each man and woman in America's Armed Forces for the honor of being named this year's "Person of the Year" by Time magazine. It is an honor you have earned not only this day, or this year, but throughout your volunteer service.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today lauded the accomplishments of those who willingly put their lives at risk so that all Americans can live in peace and freedom.

WASHINGTON - The security situation in southeastern Iraq "is now relatively stable" and improving daily along with economic conditions, the British general in charge of that area said in Baghdad today.

WASHINGTON - Troops in the field could reap the benefits of U.S. Transportation Command's information technology initiative, Agile Transportation for the 21st Century known as AT21 -- as early as May, according to the command's director of operations.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The Armed Services Blood Program urges eligible donors to give blood this holiday season to ensure supplies are available to treat service members, retirees and their families.

WASHINGTON - If there were ever any doubts about Dov Zakheim's commitment to taking care of service members and their families, then those doubts were laid to rest during a May 2001 DoD press briefing.

WASHINGTON - All many reservists and guardsmen want for Christmas is assurance that their civilian jobs will be waiting for them when they redeploy from overseas.

NORTHERN IRAQ - Army Sgt. Paul Mauney had trudged through crowded Baltimore-Washington International Airport, pushing an artificial Christmas tree in a rolling cart and enjoying onlookers' attention.

WASHINGTON - The biggest challenge facing Iraq is putting in place a new democracy, Ambassador L. Paul Bremer said today.

WASHINGTON - Editors Note: This is a revised story based on updated DoD policy on the
anthrax vaccine. Please disregard earlier AFPS story, "DoD Examines Anthrax
Court Decision, Calls Vaccine Safe," dated Dec. 23, 2003.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - "Just like senior pictures."

WASHINGTON - One lucky service member will return from combat duty to see a new Toyota Camry parked in the driveway, thanks to a spouse or family member holding on to the car -- literally.

WASHINGTON - As many military members take to the nation's highways to visit family and friends for the holiday season, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld wants to make sure they come back to duty safe and sound.

WASHINGTON - Dov Zakheim, undersecretary of defense (comptroller) and the Defense Department's chief financial officer, often refers to DoD as America's largest corporation. And during a recent interview, he did not hesitate to characterize that reference as a vision that can be a bit overwhelming at times.

WASHINGTON - For generations, U.S. service men and women and government civilians have spent the holiday season far from loved ones, so that all Americans can celebrate the peace, prosperity and liberty that our armed forces have fought to protect.

WASHINGTON - As Americans across our land move toward the holiday season, its message of peace and hope echoes and re-echoes in our hearts.

WASHINGTON - The heightened security alert in the United States is not related to the capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, coalition administrator Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III said here today.

WASHINGTON - Nine contractors have begun work to place a small satellite or other payload weighing about 1,000 pounds into a low Earth orbit.

WASHINGTON - Three 1st Armored Division soldiers -- Sgt. Ronald Buxton, Spc. Billie Grimes and Sgt. Marquette Whiteside -- grace the cover of today's Time magazine. They represent "The American Soldier" - all men and women in uniform - who have been chosen as Time's 2003 Person of the Year.

WASHINGTON - The American soldier, Time magazine's choice for Person of the Year, is "exactly right," the nation's top military officer told Sunday news shows audiences here today.

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti - The American presence here has helped thwart at least three and possibly as many as 10 terrorist attacks in the Horn of Africa region, said Marine Brig. Gen. Mastin Robeson, commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.

WASHINGTON - Libya's leader, Colonel Moammar al Ghadafi, confirmed his commitment to disclose and dismantle all weapons of mass destruction programs and has agreed to allow inspectors from international organizations to enter his country, President Bush said here Dec. 19.

MANAMA, Bahrain - Navy forces have detained four al Qaeda suspects as a result of maritime interdiction operations in the U.S. Central Command area or responsibility, Vice Adm. David Nichols said Dec. 19.

WASHINGTON - Service members are among volunteers President Bush singled out in his radio address here today in praise for their community service.

WASHINGTON - In August, the American Red Cross asked the public for donations of phone cards, clothing, small suitcases, and comfort items for service members recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here.

WASHINGTON - While the instability and conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan often dominate the news, between 80 and 90 percent of the people in these countries live "much more normal lives than the media normally presents," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Stability Operations Joseph J. Collins said here Dec. 18.

WASHINGTON - Troops in the field about to grab a meal, ready to eat combat ration might want to choose the "Jamaican pork chop," the "pasta with alfredo sauce" or the "beef with mushrooms."

WASHINGTON - When U.S. troops stormed Baghdad in April, the Iraqi people were liberated. This week, with the capture of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people were "liberated in spirit," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Bryan Whitman said here today.

WASHINGTON - Insurgents targeting Iraqis are relying on the terrorist adage "Kill one, terrorize a thousand," but won't succeed in their efforts to derail freedom and stability, the deputy operations director for Combined Joint Task Force 7 said in a Baghdad news conference today.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has approved the 120-day deployment to Iraq of units of 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, senior military officials announced Dec. 18.

WASHINGTON - "Ration stripping," they call it when forward- deployed combat troops jettison all but the most essential items from their Meals, Ready to Eat so they don't have so much to carry as they set out on a mission.

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan - While coalition forces will do their utmost to kill or capture terrorist leaders here, the provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan are the wave of the future, said Army Lt. Gen. David Barno.

WASHINGTON - Two military officers will join marching bands, equestrian teams and colorful floats traveling down Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, Calif., at the 115th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade on Jan. 1.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld welcomed a new crop of Air Force combat controllers, watched an Army infantry training exercise and consoled family members Dec. 18 during a visit to Pope Air Force Base and Fort Bragg here.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers has not forgotten what it was like to be a junior officer assigned to a remote post. That's why he understands the importance of the USO Holiday Tour he has taken to the U.S. Central Command area.

WASHINGTON - Iraqi citizens are volunteering in record numbers to serve in the country's new security services since the Dec. 13 capture of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, with the largest concentration of volunteers coming from the area around Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, coalition officials said today.

WASHINGTON - Iraqi legal community members have completed training that will help them investigate and prosecute alleged crimes committed by Saddam Hussein's regime, the senior spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority said at a Baghdad press conference today.

MOSUL, Iraq - The soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division here are working to give their follow-on unit -- a multinational division -- a head start, division commander Army Maj. Gen. David H. Petraeus said Dec. 17.

WASHINGTON - Five-time Grammy-winning gospel and pop music star Amy Grant pays special tribute to U.S. service men and women deployed far from home through the holidays during her "Simply Christmas with Amy Grant and Vince Gill" tour.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Afghanistan is advancing on the security front, but now there is visible proof of advances on the economic and governmental fronts, said Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers during a press conference here today.

WASHINGTON - "The spread of weapons of mass terror is one of the most urgent threats facing the globe today," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told members of the Proliferation Security Initiative here today.

KIRKUK, Iraq - The Army's 4th Infantry Division is continuing its aggressive fight against enemy cells with a raid in Samarra that picked up 73 men and a significant amount of material useful in making improvised explosive devices.

KIRKUK, Iraq - Coalition successes in Iraq including the capture of Saddam Hussein are not the result of lucky breaks, but the patient, exacting work of intelligence professionals and the soldiers who act on their information, U.S.Central Command chief Army Gen. John Abizaid said here today.

WASHINGTON - Defense officials continue to improve their public face on the World Wide Web. Beginning today, DoD has a new Web site focused on transformation.

WASHINGTON - A Defense Department-led effort to quickly deliver new technologies to the warfighter is making life easier -- and, more importantly, safer -- for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - While the Iraqi people were liberated "in fact" in April, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today that the Dec. 13 capture of Saddam Hussein liberated them "in spirit."

WASHINGTON - The Central Intelligence Agency will oversee the interrogations of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters today.

WASHINGTON - It was the height of irony.Soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry Division were huddled around television screens in Saddam Hussein's opulent palace in Tikrit, Iraq, watching the Dec. 14 announcement that a task force from their division had pulled the former dictator from a hole in the ground beneath a hovel just nine miles away.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Intelligence from the capture of Saddam Hussein already is making Baghdad a safer place.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Bobby Hollingsworth calls it "closing the loop."

WASHINGTON - Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, hosts of the popular morning talk show, "Live with Regis and Kelly," will feature televised holiday greetings from deployed U.S. troops to their loved ones at home throughout Christmas week.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - "Leadership from a hole is not leadership," said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers during a press conference here today.

AD DAWR, Iraq - The image of a bearded and bowed Saddam Hussein, who was captured Dec. 13 in this small farming village, is now a worldwide phenomenon.

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - Logistics experts at this camp are preparing for one of the greatest feats of transportation in military history.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As soldiers here drop a bundle of the latest "Baghdad Now" newspaper onto the sidewalk, Iraqi children pounce on the newspaper heap as if it were a fumbled football during the Super Bowl.

WASHINGTON - The United States will assist Iraqis in developing a process to bring captured former dictator Saddam Hussein to justice for his crimes, President Bush told reporters here today.

WASHINGTON - The Army's 82nd Airborne Division and attached units, known collectively as "Task Force All American," is enjoying increased cooperation with the Iraqi people as the task force continues security operations to improve safety within the Anbar Province, according to U.S. Central Command officials.

WASHINGTON - Coalition forces are ensuring that former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Geneva Conventions rights are protected while he is in custody and that he receives "all of the privileges of a prisoner of war," according to the commander of coalition forces in Iraq.

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein has been compliant since he was captured Dec. 13, but so far is not cooperating, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Lesley Stahl on the CBS News program "60 Minutes" Dec. 14.

KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait - The capture of Saddam Hussein was just one more step "admittedly a big step" in the path to Iraqi freedom and democracy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said today.

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein was "caught like a rat" and offered no resistance when U.S. soldiers captured him near Tikrit Dec. 13, the U.S. general in charge of the operation said today.

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein had been living in "two small rooms in an adobe hut" and seemed disoriented and bewildered when captured by U.S. soldiers, the general in command of those soldiers said today.

WASHINGTON - President Bush praised the "superb skill and precision by a brave fighting force" that led to the 4th Infantry Division's Dec. 13 capture of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, which Bush said "marks the end of the road for him, and for all who bullied and killed in his name."

WASHINGTON - "We got him" Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III announced at a press briefing in Baghdad today that U.S. forces had captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit.

WASHINGTON - Thanks to Iraqi cooperation, coalition forces are making precise offensive strikes to capture or kill former regime forces and anti-coalition fighters, the military commander in the country said today.

WASHINGTON - A Naples, Fla., man walked 45 miles last weekendfrom the Naples City Hall to the Fort Myers City Hallto pay tribute to U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - To soothe anxiety among service members and their families about reports of the Defense Department closing commissaries, a top DoD official emphasized here this week that the department strongly supports commissaries as an important benefit of military service.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department's top civilian today praised reserve and National Guard members serving in the global war on terrorism, while acknowledging some of that force is being stretched by multiple deployments.

WASHINGTON - A missile launched from the Navy Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target over the Pacific Ocean, Navy and Missile Defense Agency officials said here Dec. 11. The target was fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Hawaii's oldest island, Kauai.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - He inputs data into his hand-held computer organizer to remind himself of important details. He attends every meeting. He has a busy job -- aiding in the establishment of a new government. One could say his work is history in the making.

WASHINGTON - Though several factors got the Defense Logistics Agency into the transformation business, the primary focus is to provide better service and cost savings to the warfighter, Navy Vice Adm. Keith Lippert, DLA director, said here today.

WASHINGTON - Do not even think about bringing back to the United States war trophies from your service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - American paratroopers with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division recently captured several suspected terrorists during a raid in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, according to a U.S. Central Command news release.

WASHINGTON - Pro-coalition demonstrators gathered throughout Iraq Dec. 10 to protest terrorist actions and urge their fellow Iraqis to take action against anti-coalition forces.

WASHINGTON - Defense Department and coalition officials will look into why about a third of the men in the first battalion of the new Iraqi army have resigned, Pentagon officials said.

WASHINGTON - The public's response to the American Red Cross "Treasures for Troops" program has been overwhelming, Gwynn Schneider, associate with Armed Forces Emergency Services, Headquarters ARC, said here Dec. 10.

BETHESDA, Md. - Paula L. Briscoe, guided by her faithful companion, a 7-year-old golden retriever named Jenny, confidently walked to the front of the Crystal Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Hotel here Dec. 9. She smiled as she shook hands with Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness David S.C. Chu and accepted her award.

WASHINGTON - Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root, a long-time supplier of logistical support for the military, may have overpriced fuel provided to the Iraqi people by as much as $61 million, according to defense contract auditors.

WASHINGTON - When boxes of bubble wrap, filing cabinets and DVDs show up among "Triple Nine" cargo -- a number that designates the Air Force's highest priority shipment that usually is assigned to military units in places like Iraq -- it tells Air Force Gen. John W. Handy there is a problem with the military's supply chain process.

MOSUL, Iraq - A 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) program to provide computers to the employees of Mosul city hall made its final contribution here today, bringing the total number of computers donated to 233.

WASHINGTON - Only nations committed to Operation Iraqi Freedom may bid on contracts to rebuild Iraq, Pentagon officials said today.

WASHINGTON - Defending America, its overseas military and its allies from ballistic missiles laden with weapons of mass destruction "is now America's highest priority," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld noted today.

BETHESDA, Md. - The Defense Department has exceeded its goals to hire people with disabilities for the last three years, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy Ginger Groeber said here Dec. 9.

BETHESDA, Md. - Seven-year-old Jenny, a golden retriever, sat silently beside Paula L. Briscoe, an intelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. From time to time, Jenny's tail would wag as she heard Briscoe's voice, but the guide dog obediently stayed inches from her companion.

WASHINGTON - Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III , administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, observed Human Rights Day today by promising that the coalition would continue to work to ensure equality for all Iraqis.

BETHESDA, Md. - Alice E. Dickerson lost a leg to cancer as a young girl. Since then, she's survived two recurrences of the disease and she's now waiting on the results of some tests. If the news is good, she said, she plans to complete her master's degree in social work.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division soldiers seized more than 50 suspected supporters of the deposed Saddam Hussein regime and confiscated weapons today in two separate operations in northern Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command.

WASHINGTON - Two American soldiers were killed by insurgents in separate attacks in the Iraqi city of Mosul today, according to U.S. Central Command.

BETHESDA, Md. - The young man frequently glanced toward the back of the room as he sat in the front- row chair that sported his name on a piece of plain white paper. This was no ordinary day for Johnathan D. Stone, nor was it a day his family was going to miss.

WASHINGTON - Troop rotations in Iraq during the next several months will create a temporary transition time in Iraqbut will in no way affect U.S. readiness in Iraq or anywhere else in the world, Defense leaders told Pentagon reporters today.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today outlined the conditions to be met for the coalition to achieve its goals in Iraq: Iraqi self- governance, responsibility for its own internal security and a growing economy that encourages people "to come back to the country rather than leave."

DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Va. - Throughout America's history, veterans "purchased the freedom we enjoy today," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said here today.

WASHINGTON - A U.S. Army helicopter made a hard landing near Fallujah, Iraq, today, according to U.S. Central Command.

WASHINGTON - Black marketers, hoarding, and a recently-ended transportation strike combined to cause a shortage of gasoline in some areas of Iraq, a senior Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman told reporters at a Dec. 8 Baghdad press briefing.

WASHINGTON - A car bomb exploded early today outside a U.S. military compound west of Mosul, Iraq, wounding 31 American soldiers, according to U.S. Central Command.

WASHINGTON - Military personnel will see their basic pay more in line with that of civilian counterparts in the private sector in 2004 thanks to an increased pay and benefits compensation package included in the 2004 Defense Authorization Act approved by Congress this year. The act also includes changes to the controversial "concurrent receipt" issue.

WASHINGTON - A drive-by shooting attack today on soldiers guarding a gas station in Mosul, Iraq, left one coalition soldier dead, even as coalition forces continue to take the offensive against the enemies of a stable and free Iraq, officials said today at the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.

WASHINGTON - A first-hand look at Iraqi Civil Defense Corps training and a series of meetings with military, coalition and Iraqi officials made for a busy afternoon Dec. 6 for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

WASHINGTON - Recent U.S.-coalition operations against insurgents in Iraq are succeeding, a senior U.S. military commander said today during a briefing from Baghdad.

SHANNON, Ireland - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld applauded current Georgian leaders' close working relationship and improving conditions in Iraq during a news conference today with reporters en route with him back to Washington.

KIRKUK, Iraq - Attacks against coalition forces in northern Iraq have dropped significantly in recent weeks, and 95 percent of them fail to hurt coalition personnel or even damage coalition vehicles, the commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division told visiting Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld here today.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz accepted the 2003 American Patriot Award Dec. 5 "on behalf of our fallen heroes" and "the hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform and all of those that support them," including defense civilians and contractors.

WASHINGTON - With flu season here and deadly outbreaks of the virus being reported across the country, Defense Department health care officials are urging military personnel, DoD civilians and family members to get vaccinated.

WASHINGTON - One coalition soldier was killed and approximately 12 Iraqi citizens were wounded when a convoy was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad early this morning, a military spokesman said in a briefing today from the Iraqi city.

TBILISI, Georgia - With mounting concern in this former Soviet republic over Russia's behavior in the region and a new interim government still finding its feet, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld toured a U.S.- sponsored military training facility and met with key leaders here today.

WASHINGTON - The countdown began with "5," and four seconds later the 40-foot blue spruce burst forth in with red, white and green Christmas at the White House had officially begun.

WASHINGTON - Local Junior ROTC cadets packed thousands of 2004 poster-size calendars into mailing cylinders at the United Unions Building here Dec. 4.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Peggy Marish-Boos had been assigned here to the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office for two years when she finally asked, "Why don't we ever have a Christmas or holiday tree?"

DULLES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Va. - To call the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center awe-inspiring is just not adequate.

WASHINGTON - A decade-old, U.S.-German- operated educational facility nestled near the Bavarian Alps is transforming itself to address the challenges of global terrorism.

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan - The British Provincial Reconstruction Team here is helping to bring the influence of the provisional national government beyond the national capital of Kabul, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today during a visit.

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today praised the "truly remarkable" progress Afghanistan's government has made in the two years since the country's liberation, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he expects his country's condition to continue improving in the months and years to come.

WASHINGTON - The College Level Examination Program that has become a popular route for service members seeking degrees will introduce 14 new paper tests in April 2004.

MOSUL, Iraq - American engineers in northern Iraq are using their skills to keep the water flowing into the people's houses in Mosul -- and to keep the oil out.

WASHINGTON - Although DoD is planning to realign its global forces to better confront 21st century threats, U.S. troops and families stationed overseas shouldn't pack their bags just yet.

WASHINGTON - Transforming the U.S. armed forces while still fighting a global war on terrorism is the biggest challenge facing military leaders today, Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said today.

BAKU, Azerbaijan - Conveying President Bush's gratitude for Azerbaijan's help in the global war on terror, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld arrived here today for meetings with the president and defense minister of this former Soviet republic on the western shore of the Caspian Sea.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Central Command officials are standing by the claim that 54 attackers were killed in the Nov. 30 ambush at a bank in Samarra, despite Iraqi civilians who say the number is much lower.

WASHINGTON - The chief of the DoD Office of Force Transformation wants to ensure that some future leader does not look back on today and regret the decisions made.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is working to establish a state-of-the-art global communications network that's designed to provide real-time information to warfighters.

WASHINGTON - The Air Force and Navy have agreed to merge their two formerly separate programs for the acquisition of improved radio systems.

WASHINGTON - Merlin "Mage" Magerkurth got one of the biggest surprises of his life about 15 years ago - scores of letters he'd written to his mother from the battlefields of the Korean War.

WASHINGTON - During the Cold War, deterrence was at the heart of American strategy. The nuclear weapon triad of land-based missiles, bombers and submarine-launched missiles deterred the Soviet Union from attacking the United States and its allies.

WASHINGTON - They call it the "Christmas tree" effect. Defense engineers come up with the latest new gadgets and gizmos to help troops on the battlefield, and just like ornaments being added to the holiday tree they "hang" them on the warfighter.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - As the NATO defense ministers wrapped up their two-day conference here today, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld termed the meetings "very successful" and said he looked forward to continued progress on the issues facing the alliance.

WASHINGTON - Transformation is more than just new capabilities. Inherent in transformation is a physical change of the global military posture, said Andrew Hoehn, deputy assistant defense secretary for strategy, today.

WASHINGTON - More than 100 persons were stopped from entering Iraq from the Jordanian border Dec. 1, while elsewhere in Iraq enemy forces ambushed a U.S. patrol, mortally wounding a U.S. soldier, according to U.S. Central Command.

WASHINGTON - When posed the question of what freedom meant, a 10-year-old student's entry to the Weekly Reader's Operation Tribute to Freedom essay contest gave a thoughtful response, uncharacteristic of a mind that might ordinarily turn to skateboards, baseball and video games.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Praising the alliance's transformation to meet its 21st century challenges, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today that the United States supports an expanded role for NATO, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Though sporadic violence continues in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today that "the vast majority of the country" is relatively stable and not in conflict.

WASHINGTON - "You earn your future of hope every time you ignore the demons of fear and look to the better angels of your nature," Coalition administrator Ambassador L. Paul Bremer told the Iraqi people.

WASHINGTON - Several soldiers and one civilian were wounded as coalition forces successfully repelled ambush attacks in Samarra, Iraq, Nov. 30, a military spokesman said today from Baghdad.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Three NATO countries agreed today to send more troops to Afghanistan in the first morning of meetings among the alliance's defense ministers here.

WASHINGTON - A number of government and volunteer efforts are supporting the families of U.S. troops deployed overseas in the war against global terrorism, the commander-in-chief told the nation Nov. 29.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - A new multinational battalion designed to defend against and respond to attacks by weapons of mass destruction is now operational, NATO officials announced here today.