FORT MYER, Va. - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the example of the seven Americans and nine Vietnamese killed in a helicopter crash April 7 will serve to renew the commitment to further their work of accounting for missing Americans in Southeast Asia.

WASHINGTON - A contingent of U.S. sailors and Marines slated for Mideast duty will first conduct a week's-worth of training at the range facility on Vieques Island in Puerto Rico.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy is taking the lead in a DoD effort that is helping to combat the spread of AIDS within the ranks of the militaries of several African nations.

WASHINGTON - The DoD agency that has worked with employers of Guard and Reserve members for almost 30 years to emphasize the contributions of the reserve components to national security launched a new public service advertising campaign April 25 at a Pentagon kick-off ceremony.

WASHINGTON - Uncle Sam needs you. Again. This time, he's seeking military men and women to instruct high school Junior ROTC students.

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

WASHINGTON - I am proud to offer my sincere thanks during Armed Forces Week to the brave men and women who protect our Nation.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander found that the former skipper of the USS Greeneville was derelict in his duties and had handled the submarine hazardously prior to the Feb. 9 collision with the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru.

WASHINGTON - When Peter Fitzgerald graduated from law school, his mom thought he had finally reached success. But Peter had other ideas. He joined the Peace Corps and taught English in a Slovakian high school for two years.

WASHINGTON - When it comes to keeping mariners safe on the high seas, the world's coastlines or any other large body of water, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency has a new way of doing business.

WASHINGTON - James Bond gained access to Q's sensitive offices by putting his palm to a reader. A sexy voice said, "Hello, Commander Bond," and the door opened.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending April 27, 2001.)

WASHINGTON - In the 1860s, if you wanted to send someone "to the ends of the Earth" you sent them to China.

WASHINGTON - Trivia question: What do James T. Kirk, the captain of the Starship Enterprise, and Coral Wong Pietsch, the Army Reserve colonel selected to become the Army's first Asian Pacific American woman general, have in common?

WASHINGTON - War is a destructive, bleak picture that can make the skies of any canvas gray. For the picture to brighten it takes the heroism of a few ordinary men who look into the face of death, take on the challenges that break most men and overcome what is thought to be impossible.

WASHINGTON - DoD and the services are now keeping a closer eye on how many days service members spend away from home.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government is looking at possibly reducing or eliminating American participation in the peacekeeping force in the Sinai, Pentagon officials said April 19.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending April 20, 2001.)

WASHINGTON - "A hammer isn't a tool until you learn how to use it," said a specialist with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation, here. "It's the same with this."

WASHINGTON - The United States may have to disassemble the Navy EP-3 aircraft impounded in China to ship it back if mechanics cannot make it safe to fly.

WASHINGTON - While the Persian Gulf is the crucial area for U.S. Central Command, the command has much more on its plate, said Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks.

WASHINGTON - "With the Nazis, you couldn't be courageous enough, strong enough, rich enough or smart enough to survive the Holocaust. It was just a matter of luck," Tania Marcus Rozmaryn told her audience here.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending April 13, 2001)

WASHINGTON - As the Navy EP-3 crew returned from China, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld placed a call to Navy Lt. Shane Osborn.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters today that U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Shane Osborn's EP-3 plane didn't turn and strike one of the Chinese jets that was "buzzing" the surveillance aircraft.

WASHINGTON - "The 24 men and women of our aircrew have started their journey home," Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley jubilantly announced here April 11 at about 9 p.m. Eastern time.

WASHINGTON - European Command's 100,000 service members execute new missions every day, while successfully maintaining their warfighting edge, Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston recently told Congress.

WASHINGTON - Republic of Korea Korean War Service Medals were presented April 11 to 38 residents of the Soldiers' and Airmen's Home here.

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

WASHINGTON - Navy Lt. Shane Osborn told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that he requested permission to land in China after his EP-3 collided with a Chinese jet over the South China Sea March 31.

WASHINGTON - U.S. and Chinese diplomats have come to an agreement that will soon result in the release of the U.S. aircrew that has been detained on China's Hainan Island for 11 days.

WASHINGTON - U.S. officials have been classifying the 24 E-3 crewmembers held by the Chinese as "detainees," and not as "prisoners" or "hostages."

WASHINGTON - Seven U.S. troops and nine Vietnamese civilians died April 7 when their Russian-made MI-17 transport helicopter reportedly crashed into a mountain in central Vietnam.

WASHINGTON - While the U.S. military's top officer on space issues knows the importance of satellite imagery to worldwide national security missions, he also appreciates the value of the military and civilians under his command.

WASHINGTON - Air Force installations captured three of four titles in the Defense Commissary Agency's 2000 Best Commissary awards program.

WASHINGTON - There's a lot of "fun 'n games" on the Internet for kids and their parents, compliments of DoD's National Imagery and Mapping Agency and NASA.

WASHINGTON - We've all had the feeling. Another driver gets behind your car and follows too close. Or some idiot on the freeway shifts lanes abruptly and without signaling.

WASHINGTON - Drugs are a weapon of mass destruction and a major threat to the American homeland, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace recently told Congress members here.

WASHINGTON - A burst hydraulic line and defective computer software caused a V-22 Osprey aircraft to go out of control and crash in North Carolina during a training flight last December, a Marine Corps' report says.

WASHINGTON - (This is a summary of the top American Forces Press Service news stories for the week ending April 6, 2001.)

WASHINGTON - President Bush said April 5 that the United States "is working all diplomatic channels" to expedite the return of the 24-member Navy aircrew being detained on the Chinese island of Hainan.

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

WASHINGTON - American military involvement in space will become more critical to national security in coming years, said U.S. Space Command's top officer.

WASHINGTON - The four-star general whose organization is responsible for DoD computer security says the "cyber" threat against U.S. military information systems is real.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va., - Many women say they were sexually assaulted while they served in the military, but did not report it at the time. A top DoD mental health expert examined reasons for this April 3 in a presentation at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial here.

WASHINGTON - The Navy EP-3 aircraft and its 24-member crew now on the Chinese island of Hainan were conducting routine reconnaissance in international airspace over the South China Sea and not spying, a DoD spokesperson said.

WASHINGTON - It's an "exciting" time to be on the Korean Peninsula. "Things are changing at a rapid pace," Army Gen. Thomas A. Schwartz recently told Congress members here.

WASHINGTON - A three-member U.S. diplomatic team is on the Chinese island of Hainan today seeking contact with the Navy crew that had landed their aircraft there March 31 after an air incident with a People's Republic of China jet fighter.

WASHINGTON - As Army National Guard units train to protect the nation from dangerous foes, its battle-ready soldiers share their training land with creatures in need of immediate protection: rare plants and animals facing the danger of extinction.