WASHINGTON - The Selective Service System and Defense Department are teaming up again. This time, not to draft young men into the military, but to give them information about the services.

WASHINGTON - By following prudent guidelines, U.S. service members and their families living in Europe should not fear catching the human derivative of the so-called mad cow disease, DoD veterinary officials say.

WASHINGTON - As the armed forces welcomed Donald H. Rumsfeld here Jan. 26, the nation's 21st defense secretary, in turn, saluted those he was about to lead.

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush sent a message to the armed forces and the civilians who support the defense department via the nation's incoming 21st defense secretary.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters he would work toward fielding a national missile defense system and to ensure the services continue to attract and retain the best people.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending Jan. 26, 2001.)

WASHINGTON - A 10-member U.S. Coast Guard team is helping Ecuadorian authorities deal with diesel fuel leakage from a tanker ship that ran aground Jan. 16 off the Galapagos Islands.

ARLINGTON, Va. - The primary goals of DoD's fourth annual personnel recovery conference were to heighten awareness of personnel recovery functions among top-ranking DoD officials and other government agencies, and chart a course into the future, said Mel Richmond.

ILOPANGO AIR BASE, El Salvador - Salvadoran Army Sgt. Wilfredo Dulces Ramirez and Cpl. Aludes Ramirez Dulces spent three days wondering whether their loved ones in Comasagua were still alive. It was hard to concentrate on their duties here, they said, when life hung in the balance.

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WASHINGTON - Therell be no more chads -- hanging, pregnant or dimpled -- if a test program using the Internet is expanded.

WASHINGTON - Whether in peace or in war, military service leaves indelible memories of adversity and camaraderie, tragedy and triumph.

WASHINGTON - The new man at the Pentagon's helm wasted no time getting in touch with the services' senior enlisted members.

WASHINGTON - Need to know if your next duty station can accommodate a handicapped family member? If so, you can now turn to the Internet for information.

WASHINGTON - Medical care is a key component of military readiness, the nation's top Marine said here Jan. 22.

WASHINGTON - The military health system is rapidly changing from a system that deals with health problems to one that prevents them, TRICARE officials said.

WASHINGTON - Every four years, the land of the free and home of the brave invites the bravest of all to attend the presidential inauguration here.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is keeping a wary eye on some rebuilt factories outside Baghdad, Iraq, that once produced material suitable for chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction, officials said.

WASHINGTON - I’ll never forget being in the front leaning rest with a tac sergeant standing over me as I recited the “Standing Orders of Rogers’ Rangers.”

WASHINGTON - Marine officials have relieved the commander of the MV-22 Osprey squadron in New River Marine Corps Air Station, N.C., following allegations he ordered personnel to falsify records.

WASHINGTON - For the second time in his career, Donald H. Rumsfeld has taken the helm at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - Neither the captain nor any crew member of the USS Cole will be punished because of the Oct. 12 terrorist attack on the destroyer in Aden, Yemen, senior DoD and Navy leaders announced Jan. 19 at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - Army Lt. Col. Rucker Snead was awakened Jan. 20 by a 2 a.m. phone call. He had been preparing for this day since Aug. 15, and his day had just begun. He was off and running.

WASHINGTON - George W. Bush assumed office as the 43rd President of the United States saying that what Americans do is as important as anything government does.

WASHINGTON - In a break from tradition, Dick Cheney changed the ceremony offering a salute to an incoming vice president. Far better, he said, to offer a salute of his own.

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending Jan. 19, 2001.)

WASHINGTON - Preparing box lunches for thousands of troops supporting the presidential inaugural was a Herculean task for Carolyn Johnson, manager of the In-Flight Kitchen here at this sprawling air force base in southern Maryland.

WASHINGTON - A former Army school that had focused on U.S.-Latin American security issues spawned from the past has been reborn and expanded as a DoD institution, which embraces civil-military partnerships in addressing Western Hemisphere concerns of the 21st century.

WASHINGTON - There are many lessons to be learned in Bosnia, according to Ambassador Robert A. Seiple, an advocate for religious freedom.

WASHINGTON - Five years ago, the route from the Sarajevo airport into the city presented a shattering image of destruction. Today, although evidence of war remains, much of the structural damage has been repaired.

WASHINGTON - The senator turned defense secretary bid farewell to his military constituents Jan. 17, 2001, hailing America's armed forces as "the finest force for freedom the world has ever known."

WASHINGTON - Standing at the helm of the Pentagon is the most demanding and most rewarding job in all of government, according to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

WASHINGTON - Bernard Rostker said he's studied Gulf War illnesses intensively since 1996 and knows veterans are sick, but he still doesn't know why.

WASHINGTON - Think of the president's inauguration as Americas ultimate change of command ceremony.

WASHINGTON - DoD investigators have found that troops occasionally misused pesticides during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Senior defense officials said they can't confirm or rule out a connection between pesticides and illnesses some veterans have been experiencing since the war.

WASHINGTON - During the final days of the Clinton administration, American Forces Press Service interviewed Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy de Leon.

WASHINGTON - U.S. and NATO-led peacekeeping forces in the Balkans are to be commended for what they've accomplished, say three senior officials who've watched the mission progress over the past five years.

WASHINGTON - (Full farewell statement by Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen broadcast to U.S. forces from Washington, D.C., Jan. 16, 2001. A shorter version was also released and can be viewed at www.defenselink.mil/specials/farewell/)

WASHINGTON - Plans for the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration are proceeding on schedule despite the delay in choosing the nation's next chief executive and commander in chief, officials said.

WASHINGTON - Fifty years worth of studies and experience has convinced DoD officials there is minimal risk in using depleted uranium in munitions, a senior defense official said.

WASHINGTON - The Army Herald Trumpets sound, the Marine Band breaks into an inauguration fanfare and the announcer says, Ladies and Gentlemen, the President-elect of the United States.

WASHINGTON - When the defense secretary has a question about the enlisted force, the military's top civilian leader doesn't have far to go for an answer.

WASHINGTON - Rudy de Leon has learned the ups and downs of military life.

WASHINGTON - There is no evidence depleted uranium poses health risks, Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy de Leon assured Italian peacekeepers Jan. 13 in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

WASHINGTON - When the nation's 21st defense secretary meets the services' top five enlisted members, without a doubt, they'll "tell it like it is."

WASHINGTON - American troops killed an unknown number of refugees near the Korean village of No Gun Ri in the early weeks of the Korean War, but no orders were found directing such attacks, DoD officials announced Jan. 11.

WASHINGTON - "Weakness is provocative," Donald H. Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Service Committee Jan. 11 during his confirmation hearing to be the next defense secretary.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending Jan. 12, 2001.)

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - Time is running out -- entry deadline is Jan. 27 -- for elementary school artists to win a $500 U.S. Savings Bond in the sixth annual Armed Services YMCA Art Contest.

WASHINGTON - The Feb. 15 deadline is fast approaching for students to apply for $1,500 scholarships in a new program funded by manufacturers and business partners of the military commissary system.

WASHINGTON - DoD-authorized private organizations that support military families have until April 30 to compete for grants of up to $10,000 in the second annual Newman's Own Award contest.

WASHINGTON - Russia, China, asymmetric warfare, and weapons of mass destruction are issues likely to confront incoming Bush administration national security officials, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said Jan. 10 at the National Press Club here.

WASHINGTON - Some service members in remote locations will receive an extra allowance in their January pay.

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WASHINGTON - If handled properly, depleted uranium, known as DU, poses no risk to American or allied forces, according to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

WASHINGTON - DoD must view terrorists as a relentless enemy and confront them with the same intensity and discipline that we have used in the past to defeat conventional antagonists, Defense Secretary William Cohen said Jan. 9.

WASHINGTON - President-elect George W. Bush and his foreign policy team visited the Pentagon Jan. 10 for a briefing from outgoing Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

WASHINGTON - William S. Cohen said being secretary of defense "is the best job that one can have in government best, because youre representing the best military in the world" during his final Pentagon press conference Jan. 9.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton told military members that the "world is safer, and America stands taller" because of them.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary-designate Donald H. Rumsfeld met with Defense Secretary William S. Cohen Jan. 5 in the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - The mobile home lifestyle strikes the fancies and suits the pocketbooks of many service members and DoD civilian employees. And some relish the idea of taking their homes with them when they change duty stations at government expense.

WASHINGTON - Sammy L. Davis and Al Rascon say they're nothing special -- just two regular guys who went to war and did what they had to do.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending Jan. 5, 2001)

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WASHINGTON - A little known provision of the 2001 Defense Authorization Act will make it easier for the last wishes of service members to be carried out.

WASHINGTON - Service members and their families may one day use a DoD Internet site to communicate across the globe, access military and civilian news, college courses, community outreach services and even apply for jobs at the click of a mouse.

WASHINGTON - The contractor responsible for a shipment of privately owned vehicles that were severely damaged en route to Europe for service members and civilian employees has gone beyond the letter of the contract for reimbursement.