SANTIAGO, Chile - A "virtuous circle of security and prosperity" will build a brighter Asia-Pacific region, Defense Secretary William Cohen told members of the Pacific Basin Economic Council during its annual meeting here May 25.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William Cohen used his first visit to Argentina, Chile and Brazil to strengthen relationships with political and military leaders there.

SANTIAGO, Chile - The United States has begun pulling back ships, aircraft and troops in the Persian Gulf, Defense Secretary William Cohen told reporters while en route here May 24.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton announced plans May 22 to help defend the United States from attacks by enemies using weapons of mass destruction or using cyberweapons to disable key U.S. computer facilities.

WASHINGTON - Prevailing perceptions of Asian Pacific Americans as nerdy scientific experts who cannot communicate with the public, or as technicians unable to manage is false, said Belkis Leong-Hong.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The United States four years ago proposed opening the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to new members. That proposal is fast becoming a reality.

WASHINGTON - Why is Flag Day observed on June 14?

WASHINGTON - "This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation."

WASHINGTON - William P. (Bill) Houley, 59, is the new director of the Defense Reform Initiative.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - While peace thrives in Bosnia, growing violence in Kosovo presents a tough challenge, U.S. Army Gen. Wesley K. Clark said last week in Washington.

FORT LEE, Va. - Army Sgt. Maj. Clevola H. Fedak has customer service and the needs of enlisted service members high on her list of things to do as the Defense Commissary Agency's new senior enlisted adviser.

WASHINGTON - Army Gen. Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was among seven "National Fathers of the Year" honored May 13 at a 1998 awards luncheon in New York.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton signed the donation contract May 4 transferring the historic battleship USS Missouri to a memorial association in Honolulu.

WASHINGTON - Active-duty family members and retirees and their family members give their health plan high marks.

MONS, Belgium - U.S. and Russian forces are among the 3,000 troops from six NATO and 11 other nations taking part in Cooperative Jaguar 1998, a ground, air and maritime Partnership for Peace exercise in Denmark.

WASHINGTON - As we observe Memorial Day, our hearts are filled with gratitude to those brave soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have laid down their lives for this great country.

WASHINGTON - Navy men used the home court advantage to post an impressive 6-0 record to win the 1998 Armed Forces Volleyball Championships May 6-8 at the Navy Seabee Base, Port Hueneme, Calif.

SAN ANTONIO - Boots. A soldier's best friend -- next to a rifle, maybe. But when the subject is land mines, current combat boots don't offer much protection and in fact may exacerbate injuries.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Can patients and health care providers benefit from downsizing? Yes -- in the case of two major military medical centers whose proximity begged for closer ties.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Imagine a soldier shot in the stomach, blood streaming from his torn gut. Can medics get him to a field hospital for a transfusion in time to save him? Perhaps. Probably not.

WASHINGTON - Who was the last U.S. service member to win an Olympic medal in track and field?

WASHINGTON - Every writer welcomes the creative opportunity presented by an assignment to write a feature story. But experienced writers are careful not to let creativity become an end unto itself at the expense of telling the story quickly and directly.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen recently presented 16 Defense Environmental Security Awards for individual and installation efforts to protect the environment.

MONS, Belgium - Bosnian refugees will return home despite ethnic separatists' attempts to thwart them. "These refugees are going to return home. They are not going to be denied," NATO's supreme allied commander Europe said here May 15.

WASHINGTON - Marine Corps Cpl. James Ferguson is this year's Armed Services YMCA National Volunteer of the Year.

MONS, Belgium - As storm clouds loomed ever larger over Kosovo, President Clinton welcomed news that talks were set to begin between Serb government leaders and ethnic Albanians.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - U.S. military space programs must converge with civil, commercial and allied space efforts, DoD's top space commander said here recently.

SAN ANTONIO - Inside a bubble-like incubator, a tiny baby's chest vibrates rapidly as the infant takes in 720 breaths a minute.

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. - President Clinton praised today's military airlifters, likening their dedication and achievements to those of U.S. aviators who saved Berlin after World War II.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO must be task-oriented and pragmatic to respond to today's challenges and those of the future, according to NATO Secretary General Javier Solana.

WASHINGTON - The Senate confirmed Dr. Sue Bailey on May 14 to fill the vacant post of assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

BERLIN - President Clinton called on European leaders to create a new trans-Atlantic community. The future, he said, demands boldness, will and unity.

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. - Tent sales. Case lot sales. You love them because you save big -- and now exchanges and commissaries are working together closely to stage these bargain blowouts.

NORFOLK, Va. - Defense Secretary William Cohen highlighted racial desegregation in the military at the ROTC commissioning ceremony May 16 at Norfolk State University.

BERLIN - Rekindling the spirit of the Berlin Airlift, President Clinton told cheering Germans and Americans here European allies must remain united in the quest for peace.

WASHINGTON - Fido could turn out to be a deminer's best friend.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. - The Army Band played "Going Home" as a joint-service casket team carried the remains of the Vietnam Unknown to a waiting hearse.

WASHINGTON - The Theater High Altitude Air Defense System failed a fifth test May 12, but DoD is determined to make the program work, said Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon.

WASHINGTON - Back in March, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen directed the services to toughen entry level training. "We have to produce fit, disciplined, motivated soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines," he said. "We must pay special attention to physical fitness, but this is only a first step."

WASHINGTON - When is Memorial Day traditionally observed?

WASHINGTON - "For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and virtue."

WASHINGTON - What race course of horse racing's "Triple Crown" has the shortest track?

WASHINGTON - Since 1869, the Nation has consecrated this holiday to the memory of Americans who have died in war. Since then, many more American men and women have nobly fought and died, proving that our ideals and way of life will continue to be challenged and will be won anew only at extreme cost.

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - More than 1,900 walkers and runners honored the World War II heroes of Bataan during the 10th annual Bataan Death March Memorial here April 19.

WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration is asking Congress for relief from a moratorium on using anti-personnel land mines, saying the halt would needlessly endanger U.S. service members.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - A slightly smaller force, with a new, 800-strong multinational security unit aimed at maintaining public order, will conduct the next phase of NATO-led peacekeeping operations in Bosnia.

RESTON, Va. - The Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services recommended opening all special operations helicopter positions to women.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Military women from 19 nations will meet here at NATO headquarters in June to share information and discuss common issues.

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - Some 1,900 marchers honored the heroism of a special group of World War II veterans while testing their own endurance April 19 during the 1998 Bataan Death March Memorial.

WASHINGTON - When was automobile air conditioning introduced?

WASHINGTON - "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work."

BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO officials are voicing concerns over the deteriorating situation in Kosovo and what they're calling "deplorable violence" in Bosnia.

WASHINGTON - If service members are looking for senior leaders who can not only "talk the talk," but "walk the walk," then they've found it in Charles Cragin.

WASHINGTON - The semiannual open season for the Thrift Savings Plan runs May 15-July 31.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - About this time last year, Russian President Boris Yeltsin announced his intention to stop aiming missiles at members of the NATO alliance. Russian officials now say Yeltsin's pledge has been fulfilled.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO allies are considering ways to help the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania shore up security and protect their borders in light of the ongoing crisis in Kosovo.

WASHINGTON - The military is ready and fully prepared to execute U.S. national security strategy, but DoD must deal with readiness issues, and soon, said senior defense and military leaders at a Pentagon briefing May 5.

WASHINGTON - Each day hundreds of U.S. military and civilian personnel work to find out what happened to America's missing in action.

WASHINGTON - "The tomb itself demands the attempt. No war memorial is more meaningful to more Americans than the Tomb of the Unknowns. It cuts across generations and decades with equal power. It affirms the greatest sacrifice ever made: more than a warrior's life, a warrior's very name and existence."

WASHINGTON - Marine Cpl. Matthew Hagerman and Army Staff Sgt. Terry Anderson won top individual honors in DoD's 1997 Thomas Jefferson journalism competition.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen has approved a study group's recommendation to disinter the Vietnam Unknown from the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery, Pentagon officials said May 7.

WASHINGTON - The United States will host NATO's 50th anniversary summit meeting here next year.

WASHINGTON - "A modest man with immodest talent ... a man with fire in his heart."

WASHINGTON - In a historic move April 30, the U.S. Senate approved adding three former Warsaw Pact countries to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

WASHINGTON - Like millions of others who left their homelands to come to America, the first Asian and Pacific Island immigrants who arrived here in the 19th century were seeking a better life than the one they left behind.