WASHINGTON - When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld gives a speech, people listen. When he responds to people's questions, they really listen.

WASHINGTON - Nearly everyone has experienced it at one time or another: an airport bogged down by bad weather, delayed and cancelled flights, and cranky, overtired travelers wanting nothing more than to get to their destinations.

WASHINGTON - Despite media reports to the contrary, "the situation in Iraq is not doom and gloom," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here Oct. 30.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - In a country torn apart by war, it's hard to find documentation on anything, let alone information regarding the health issues that face Afghanistan today.

WASHINGTON - The Army agency that has outlined the "ins and outs" of peacekeeping operations for senior military leaders is undergoing a transformation.

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - When Army Reserve Sgt. Julia Fadell finished high school, she had one burning ambition: "to do something different and not get caught in a routine job." If she could get in some traveling, that would be a bonus, she added.

WASHINGTON - National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice condemned the recent spate of attacks in Iraq, saying it demonstrates "the depravity" of the terrorists while reinforcing more than ever the need for the international community to stay the course in advancing a free, democratic Iraq.

WASHINGTON - Nearly everyone has experienced it at one time or another: an airport bogged down by bad weather, delayed and cancelled flights, and cranky, overtired travelers wanting nothing more than to get to their destinations.

WASHINGTON - Arizonans will pay tribute to their sons and daughters who died fighting the global war on terrorism with a special memorial service this Veterans Day.

WASHINGTON - Nov. 4 kicks off the application period for the children of active duty, retired and Guard and Reserve members to apply for $1,500 academic scholarships. The application window for the 2004 Scholarships for Military Children program extends through Feb. 18.

WASHINGTON - The work of Bechtel International Systems Inc., under contract with the U.S. Agency for International Development in support of the Coalition Provisional Authority's reconstruction effort in Iraq, is well under way.

WASHINGTON - The Navy today showcased a new, deployable medical system that's saving time - and service members' lives.

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - A soldier with the Army's 10th Mountain Division was knocked down by small-arms fire, got up, and continued his mission.

WASHINGTON - Detailing successes in Iraq does not mean the Defense Department is trying to put a happy face on the conflict, Defense Secretary Donald. H. Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon press conference today.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The rebuilding of Iraq continued Oct. 25 with the reopening of a day care center in the Abu Ghuraib district here.

WASHINGTON - As Defense Department aircraft and crews continue their efforts in helping to battle the California wildfires, U.S. Northern Command officials reported today that in 48 missions through Oct. 29, the aircraft had dispersed 129,600 gallons of fire retardant.

WASHINGTON - Visiting U.S. troops, seeing the "progress on the ground," and talking with Iraqi women were the goals of a bipartisan congressional delegation recently returned from Iraq, Ohio Rep. Deborah Pryce said here today.

WASHINGTON - It has been two years since Ed and Tonie Negrin began touring the United States visiting military installations with their vehicles they have named "America's Truck Display." Their passion remains strong and their motive remains the same.

STUTTGART, Germany - With the snip of a ribbon and the smash of a bottle here Oct. 15, U.S. European Command officially opened a new door to the future of joint planning and operations.

WASHINGTON - About 560 military personnel will enter the fire lines in California around Nov. 3, Pentagon officials said today.

WASHINGTON - Terrorists and former regime gangsters are trying to break the American will with the recent spate of attacks in Iraq, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said here Oct. 29.

WASHINGTON - In what may be the Defense Department's new battleground in the war on terror, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told Georgetown University faculty and students today that the U.S. needs to do a better job of explaining its polices abroad, "because that is part of winning the war on terrorism the battle of ideas."

WASHINGTON - American officials have no plans to move personnel or other assets from the Iraq Survey Group to bolster counterterrorism efforts, a senior Defense Department official said here today.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - After three years, four rotations, and who knows how many thousands of troops, Kandahar Air Field here is getting a facelift.

WASHINGTON - It's probably one of the most diverse military units ever established: a 10,000-man division made up of soldiers from 21 countries who speak 17 different languages and have different equipment, operating procedures and rules of engagement.

WASHINGTON - Two soldiers were killed and one was wounded Oct. 28 when their Abrams main battle tank struck a land mine or a roadside improvised explosive device, Combined Joint Task Force 7 officials in Baghdad, Iraq, said today.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon's top money manager today praised the nations of the international community that pledged billions for the reconstruction of Iraq at the Oct. 23-24 donors' conference in Madrid.

WASHINGTON - Military officials this week opened a new $30 million mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del. The Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs, which replaces a 48-year-old facility, is the Defense Department's only stateside mortuary.

WASHINGTON - A Web site created to help service members, spouses and children navigate the challenges associated with military moves and deployments debuted Oct. 7.

WASHINGTON - Sgt. Amin Aanan, who served more than 10 years in Saddam Hussein's army, calls it a way to help reverse the horrendous damages of the old regime while serving the city and country he loves. Capt. Musab Joseph was attracted by the opportunity to protect his family while launching what most of his friends and neighbors consider a prestigious career.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - For most people, the U.S. Army Sniper School at Fort Benning, Ga., conjures up images of soldiers in camouflage sneaking around the densely wooded training grounds of western Georgia, learning to kill the enemy stealthily with high-powered rifles.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Every day the soldiers of Company B, 41st Engineer Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, perform a job where death is potentially only one step away.

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. - U.S. Northern Command is sending all eight of the Defense Department's C-130 aircraft equipped with the Modular Airborne Firefighting System, or MAFFS, and six CH-53 helicopters with fire suppression buckets to support the wildland firefighting effort in California.

WASHINGTON - The world is safer today because Saddam Hussein and the Taliban are gone, President Bush said during a White House press conference today.

WASHINGTON - The recent spate of deadly bombings and other terrorist actions in Iraq are likely the result of U.S. and coalition successes in the post-Saddam Hussein era, the U.S. military's top civilian said Oct. 27.

SAYAD, Afghanistan - It is apparent in the eyes of the children here that the youth of Afghanistan need action today to have a brighter tomorrow.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - To understand a religion other than your own takes an open mind, a curious heart and an opportunity to witness the inner circle of the practice.

WASHINGTON - A car bomb exploded outside an engineering office and down the street from a police station in Fallujah, Iraq, wounding two Iraqis, Combined Joint Task Force 7 officials said today.

WASHINGTON - A health clinic and two schools near Mosul, Iraq, opened Oct. 23 after the Commander's Emergency Relief Program of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) brought them back to life.

WASHINGTON - The National Air and Space Museum will highlight the contributions of military aviation during opening ceremonies of the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Dec. 9.

WASHINGTON - More military units are helping combat the wildfires raging in California, Pentagon officials said today.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Being in a hospital can be miserable and frightening for children. It can be difficult to bring joy to children in these places. But, with the help of a soldier in Iraq and generous Americans in the United States, smiles were abundant at a children's hospital in Baghdad Oct. 19.

WASHINGTON - DoD's top anti-drug official today praised the efforts of Race Against Drugs, a civilian initiative that partners with professional stock car drivers and other racers to keep young people drug-free.

WASHINGTON - Actress Lynda Carter may have been superhuman when she starred as Wonder Woman of the hit 1970s television series, but her super powers were no match against the evils of alcohol abuse.

WASHINGTON - I had just brushed my teeth and was wetting down my hair to make it look halfway presentable for a 6:30 a.m. working breakfast when I heard the first "boom" at the Al Rasheed Hotel in central Baghdad.

BADUSH, Iraq - U.S. soldiers and Iraqi citizens joined in celebrating the reopening of the Badush Hospital here Oct. 22.

WASHINGTON - Five U.S. soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded as the result of insurgent attacks in Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command reports.

WASHINGTON - Noting there has not been an increase in incidents in his area of operations in the last couple of days, the commanding general of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division in northern Iraq said he has re-checked procedures and re-briefed soldiers to help ensure their safety and security.

WASHINGTON - Firefighting equipment California officials requested from the Defense Department soon will be battling the wildfires in the southern part of the state, Pentagon officials said.

SINJAR, Iraq - More than 100 parents and sick children waited outside the Sinjar General Hospital here Oct. 23, anxiously awaiting the opening of the first children's clinic north of Mosul.

MOSUL, Iraq - The winds of change blew awfully hard for one 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) reservist last winter.

WASHINGTON - The more successful the United States is in Iraq, the more the terrorists will attempt to undermine that success, President Bush said today from the White House.

WASHINGTON - Travelers can donate frequent- flier miles to help troops on leave from Iraq reach their destinations through Operation Hero Miles.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said today the deepest impression left during his four-day visit to Iraq to assess progress in the country's rebuilding was the "hundreds of individual acts of courage" by Iraqis, Americans and coalition partners "working together to build a new and free Iraq."

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is mobilizing once again, but this time the battlefield is not in a faraway land against a foreign enemy. Instead, the battlefield is here on our nation's soil - and the enemy is drugs.

WASHINGTON - Ambassador Paul Bremer has ordered a full investigation of today's attack on Baghdad's Al Rasheed Hotel, but said Iraq is the frontline of the war on terrorism and these types of attacks must be expected.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The terrorist attack on the Al Rasheed Hotel here this morning probably was timed to coincide with the reopening of the 14th of July Bridge in downtown Baghdad, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters today.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who was on the 12th floor of the Al Rasheed Hotel in downtown Baghdad when it was hit today by rocket-propelled grenades in a terrorist attack, insisted that "this terrorist act will not deter us from completing our mission - which is to help the Iraqi people free themselves from the type of criminals who did this and to protect the American people from this kind of terrorism."

WASHINGTON - Nations of the world are responding to U.S. calls for financial and military aid in Iraq, President Bush said in his radio address today.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz took to the streets of Iraq today literally to learn firsthand from the Iraqi people as well as U.S. soldiers on how the rebuilding process is going.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Bumps and bruises, 6-foot waves, chapped lips. Weary from a 140-nautical-mile trek, the SEAL Wives Against Terrorism smiled, cheered and waved as they motor-boated into Ego Alley at City Dock here today.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As the U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq continue training Iraq's new security forces, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said here today he has "no prejudice" against hiring members of the old Iraqi army "as long as their record is clean."

WASHINGTON - With new attacks in Iraq today, four soldiers have been killed in enemy attacks and two others have died there of other causes since Oct. 22, U.S. Central Command officials said. Four other soldiers were wounded.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is developing an advanced communications capability for tactical fighters that will tightly connect the sensors and cockpits of many aircraft.

MANAS, Kyrgyzstan - A few hundred kilometers north of Afghanistan, in the small country of Kyrgyzstan, is Manas Air Base, where airmen are doing their part to ensure coalition service members can maintain the fight on the front lines of the war on terrorism.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - An excess of coalition medical supplies and medications supplemented a shortage faced by Afghan hospitals and clinics Oct. 21, as American troops here delivered nearly $100,000 worth of medical supplies to local hospitals.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and coalition forces are "an amazing group" that is "doing a magnificent job," enduring hardships and risks as they continue to make steady progress in Iraq, a senior defense official said.

WASHINGTON - U.S. soldiers in Iraq are focused, dedicated and committed to accomplishing their mission, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told reporters in Baghdad this week.

WASHINGTON - Tears for those they lost in the line of duty - particularly in the global war on terrorism - mixed with cheers here today as 10 women began the first leg of a 300-nautical-mile journey to New York City.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz urged Iraqi women's and human rights group representatives here today to continue their hard work and dedication "to make sure Iraq becomes a free country."

WASHINGTON - The situation in Iraq continues to improve, but challenges remain, according to the commander of the coalition ground forces there.

WASHINGTON - The "global war on terrorism memo" dominated a press conference at the Pentagon today.

WASHINGTON - New maritime security rules are approved and published, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced today at a meeting of industry leaders in Wilmington, Del.

WASHINGTON - Twenty years ago, a suicide bomber drove a truck into the Marine Barracks at the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon. When the explosion cleared, 241 Marines and sailors were dead.

WASHINGTON - At this time of year clinics and hospitals can be swamped with people "bitten" by a nasty bug known as the influenza virus.

WASHINGTON - President Bush today reminded the world of the close ties between America and Australia during a speech to the Australian Parliament in which he praised the "Land Down Under" for its support in the war on terrorism.

WASHINGTON - National leaders have said many times that to make progress in Iraq, three areas have to move ahead together: security, political and economic progress must go hand-in-hand.

WASHINGTON - The Oct. 16 memo Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld wrote to defense leaders was aimed at getting people to think beyond day-to-day tasks and answer basic questions about the global war on terrorism and the department's roles, Rumsfeld said here Oct. 22.

BAGRAM - Airmen here are moving from their temper tents into wooden structures called B-huts.

WASHINGTON - Far from being a glum assessment, a memo Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent to senior leaders poses questions Rumsfeld believes leaders should be asking about the new security environment, Larry Di Rita, Pentagon spokesman, said here today.

WASHINGTON - Fighting the global war on terrorism has been tough on U.S. military equipment, senior service leaders told members of a House Armed Services Committee panel here Oct. 21.

WASHINGTON - Two congressional delegations that visited Iraq said some very positive steps have been taken there, and that they left with the impression service members in the country are committed to their jobs and determined to see them through.

FORT LEWIS, Wash. - The 2003 model year for the Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle is the best yet.

FORT LEWIS, Wash. - The Stryker Infantry Carrier Vehicle system received high praise from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers following a test drive here Oct. 21.

MOSUL, Iraq - Congestion, confusion, inefficiency - all words that were used to describe the South Gate entrance at the 101st Airborne Division's logistics support area here, known as LSA Diamondback.

WASHINGTON - One of the keys to the success of the Pentagon Renovation Program is putting the best person in the job, program manager Michael Sullivan said at the Federal Buildings Expo here today.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Poet and philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it." For Army units here, a repeat performance of past Army calamities is unlikely because of the 130th Military History Detachment's work.

WASHINGTON - A military inspector general will investigate controversial comments about religion and the war on terrorism made by a high-ranking defense official.

MOSUL, Iraq - Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) discovered four weapons caches Oct. 20.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The more than 300 Mexicans who volunteered to help the United States kick the Japanese out of the Pacific islands during World War II are slowing passing on. Only 10 of them are still around.

NAVAL AIR STATION LEMOORE, Calif. - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suited up and took over the backseat of the Navy's newest fighter-bomber here Oct. 20.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Joint Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers thanked Marines and sailors based here for their contributions to success in Operation Iraqi Freedom Oct. 20.

WASHINGTION, Oct. 21 - A parasitic disease being spread by sand flies in Iraq has prompted officials who oversee the military's blood supply to implement a one-year donor deferral for military personnel serving in that country.

WASHINGTON - The bulk of U.S. troops serving in Iraq will rotate home in the first half of 2004, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.

MOSUL, Iraq - The town of Spencer, Wis., with its one stoplight and 2,000 people, truly is a place where everyone is everyone's neighbor. So when one U.S. Army officer in Iraq e-mailed his parents looking for support for a local school, word traveled quickly.

MOSUL, Iraq - A book drive spurred by Company A, 501st Signal Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) [] led to the donation of 1,200 textbooks and novels to Mosul University, a school which had many books destroyed under the censorship of the former regime.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The lone "improved road" leading from Kandahar Air Field to Kandahar City is a stretch of highway notorious for obliterating axles and shredding the tires of unsuspecting motorists. Pitted with potholes and pavement irregularities, the five-mile trek challenges even the most experienced of drivers. On both sides of the road, herds of camels and goats roam freely on the desolate landscape. In the distance, the mountains, looming like angry gods, shadow the fading horizon.

FORT DETRICK, Md. - When the Defense Department took on the task in 1992 of helping to find a cure for breast cancer, it forged relationships spanning science, academia, survivor support groups and the military.

WASHINGTON - Two American soldiers were killed and one was wounded Oct. 18 in Iraq during an insurgent-mounted ambush that took place west of Kirkuk, according to a U.S. Central Command news release.

SAN FRANCISCO - In these challenging times, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked Americans to remain intellectually involved in thinking of the war on terrorism.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - The decision on how many American troops will be needed in Iraq will be "event driven" and will not be made in some "mindless way," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said Oct. 19.

WASHINGTON - More than 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide will celebrate the start of Ramadan, Islam's holy month of fasting, on the October 26 or 27. The start and end dates for Ramadan may vary because the beginning of Islamic lunar months depends on the actual sighting of the new moon.

WASHINGTON - Despite their apparent goal of scaring the international community away from supporting the coalition in Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Oct. 19 that new tapes purportedly from Osama bin Laden will have the opposite effect.

WASHINGTON - Service members and their families have until Nov. 11 to take advantage of a highly popular program that offers free admission to Anheuser-Busch theme parks.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - As the Hispanic population soars across the country, the Defense Department is hankering to increase their numbers in its civilian workforce and military ranks. But, so far, young Hispanics don't seem to be getting the message.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - After the signing a new partnership agreement with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities on Oct. 17, Charles Abell vowed that the Defense Department will not allow the new document to lapse, as did a similar agreement signed seven years ago.

WASHINGTON - President Bush used his weekly radio address to the nation today to speak of progress in Iraqi schools and to characterize the oppression the country suffered under Saddam Hussein's misrule.

FORT RILEY, Kansas - America's highest-ranking military officer visited the beginnings of his Air Force career and spoke to ROTC cadets and the trustees of Kansas State University about the war on terrorism.

WASHINGTON - James Taber, with the Alexandria City Fire Department, said today's First Responders Appreciation Day at the Pentagon is part of the healing process.

FORT HOOD, Texas - More than 4,000 pounds of school supplies reached Iraq recently thanks to the U.S. Army's Task Force Iron Horse, according to Maj. William Kennedy, 4th Infantry Division.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Like firemen on duty at a firehouse, 10th Mountain Division infantry soldiers who make up Bagram's quick reaction force sit in their hut near the airfield, always ready to extinguish any problems coalition forces may have in the area.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Teeth are the fastest-aging part of the human body, and to help keep coalition forces here aging gracefully, the 452nd Combat Support Hospital's dental unit provides essential dental care for service members in need of immediate attention to their choppers.

WASHINGTON - Four American military police were killed and nine were wounded as the result of insurgent attacks in Iraq over the past two days, according to U.S. Central Command press releases.

WASHINGTON - In its short existence, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense has established good working relationships with all homeland security players, said one of the office's top officials.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Hispanic heroes of the past and present were honored during an Oct. 16 welcome reception for the Defense Department's National Hispanic American Heritage Month observance at the Hyatt Regency Orange County Hotel here.

WASHINGTON - Whether or not another multinational division is ready for deployment in February, the 101st Airborne Division will come home on time, said U.S. Central Command officials.

WASHINGTON - Saying the Defense Department wants to advance stabilization and recovery in Iraq as rapidly and cost effectively as possible, the Pentagon's chief financial officer urged the House Budget Committee today to support President Bush's $87 billion supplemental funding request for military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - President Bush today thanked the United Nations Security Council for passing a resolution supporting efforts to rebuild Iraq, and said the United States is facing a choice in the war on terror.

WASHINGTON - Many nations recently under the heels of despots are among the leaders in bringing freedom to Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said at a Pentagon press conference today.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department takes every report of low military morale seriously, and DoD leaders said today they must remain attentive to the needs of service members and their families.

WASHINGTON - U.S. senators recently returned from Iraq say life is looking up for its citizens and that American troop morale there is good.

WASHINGTON - "If you'd been here two weeks earlier, we could have gotten this taken care of, and your child would be graduating with the rest of the class."

WASHINGTON - When Bree Anderson's husband deployed to Iraq in April, much of her family assumed she would come home to Arizona to await his return.

WASHINGTON - The director of the Iraqi currency exchange for the Coalition Provisional Authority called the first day of the currency exchange in Iraq "a great success" that begins the country's move toward "sustainable economic growth."

WASHINGTON - Army Lt. Col. Shelly Stellwagen likens it to "trying to fly an airplane while you're still building it."

WASHINGTON - The new NATO Response Force was officially stood up today during a ceremony held in Brunssum, the Netherlands.

WASHINGTON - President Bush's trip to Asia that begins Oct. 17 will stress security and cooperation. Plans include stops in Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

WASHINGTON - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said she wants to make "very clear" that the Pentagon is still in charge of post-war Iraq.

DOHUK, Iraq - Thanks to an Iraqi civilian's actions, a load of 188 SA-7 surface-to-air missiles are headed to Mosul for disposal.

WASHINGTON - Born with no hands and no legs, John Kemp wants to educate and inform people about what his life is like.

WASHINGTON - On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the staff at the North American Aerospace Defense Command was poised to identify a missile test or space launch anywhere in the world, or to tell exactly how many items of "space junk" were circling the globe.

WASHINGTON - Service members in Iraq will soon get more current news as The Stars and Stripes, the daily newspaper of the U.S. military abroad, begins publishing in Baghdad, Stripes officials said here.

WASHINGTON - Nine U.S. service members have died since Oct. 9 in seven separate incidents in Iraq, U.S. Central Command officials said.

BAGHDAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Iraq - Air Force Tech. Sgt. Robert Moore wanted to do something for the friend he had made and lost while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. So he requested and got permission to name an airport fuel storage facility after Sgt. Roger Rowe, an Army transportation specialist killed by a sniper July 9.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - In the hidden back trails of Bagram Air Base stands an Afghan compound, made by hand out of mud by local citizens -- a training site used by Bagram troops to prepare for urban combat.

AL JEZEERA REGION, Iraq - Thousands of gallons of water surged from a reservoir into an aqueduct Oct. 12 at the Al Jezeera Pump Station, the start of a long journey to serve more than 200,000 farmers throughout the arid plains of Northern Iraq.

CAMP WOLF, Kuwait - The first group of 265 soldiers to take advantage of the Defense Department's rest and recuperation leave program returned to the Operation Iraqi Freedom theater Oct. 13 after about 15 days of R&R leave.

BAGRAM, Afghanistan - A mixture of people rich in diversity has celebrated and honored one of its component cultures here during Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Sept. 15 and concludes Oct. 15.

BALTIMORE - The first soldiers to return home from Iraq for rest and recuperation leave checked in at Baltimore-Washington International Airport here today to return to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

WASHINGTON - To the United Service Organizations, they are heroes -- the men and women of the armed forces who, among many attributes, characterize bravery, courage and selfless service to their country.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz praised the U.S.-Hungarian military partnership during a statue dedication ceremony Oct. 11 honoring a Revolutionary War-era Hungarian patriot who had fought and died for America.

WASHINGTON - The United States and its coalition partners are making progress in rebuilding Iraq into "a stable, just and prosperous country" that doesn't threaten its neighbors or the world, President Bush said Oct. 11 during his weekly radio address.

WASHINGTON - Former President Ronald Reagan's legacy is present in Iraq today, as many nations freed from the grasp of tyranny now are helping the coalition bring freedom to the Iraqi people, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today.

WASHINGTON - Changing the "footprint" of U.S. forces in the European Command's area of operations goes hand-in-hand with NATO transformation, said Marine Gen. James Jones, the alliance's supreme allied commander, today.

WASHINGTON - The NATO military mission in Bosnia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia could end and the mission in Kosovo may be scaled back, said Marine Gen. James Jones, the alliance's supreme allied commander.

WASHINGTON - U.S. troop strength in South Korea can be reduced because of technological advances in military art and lessons learned from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, the nation's No. 2 military officer said here today.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz is known around the nation's capital as a humble guy. Even though he holds a doctorate and has served as U.S. ambassador to Indonesia, he'd rather forego his titles.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Richard B. Cheney today countered criticism of the administration's prosecution of the war on terrorism.

PORT SHUAIBA, Kuwait - Army firefighters here rolled out hoses, stormed a training tower and rescued simulated victims during a three-day "Fire Dawg Challenge" competition recently, testing themselves on technical competency and physical fitness.

WASHINGTON - Acknowledging that "organized extremists" continue to attack coalition forces, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq cited "tremendous" progress in creating a secure environment, restoring essential services and beginning economic and democratic transformation.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The message from the NATO defense ministerial conference is that "in a dangerous world, we need real, deployable forces and not paper armies," NATO Secretary-General George Robertson said here today.

MOSUL, Iraq - What was once nothing more than a boxed collection of books became Iraq's first 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) library here today.

NORTHERN IRAQ - Summer vacation was anything but a vacation for the coalition soldiers and nongovernmental organizations involved with rebuilding more than 800 schools in Iraq's Ninevah Province, current home of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assualt).

MOSUL, Iraq - Students of Al Kifah Intermediate School here were bright-eyed at the start of the new school year, arriving on their first day to find new furnishings and computers.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld downplayed the hoopla surrounding a memo from National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice that explains the National Security Council will assume a broader role in coordinating operations in Iraq.

WASHINGTON - An American soldier died from wounds received today during an insurgent attack north of Baghdad, according to a U.S. Central Command news release.

WASHINGTON - NATO countries need to "generate more usable soldiers and have the political will to deploy" them, the international body's secretary-general said Oct. 8.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2003 - Citizen soldiers are "serving on every front in the war on terror, " an - You're guarding suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, (and) preparing for homeland security missions."

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Tigi, a 5-year-old German shepherd, intently searched the bags on the ground, then looked to Air Force Staff Sgt. Bennie L. Hall for the next command.

WASHINGTON - The president's national security adviser defended the national security strategy of pre-emption and said that discoveries in Iraq show it was the right tack to take.

WASHINGTON - Ground forces are an important part of the Defense Department's plans in transforming itself to meet 21st century challenges, the department's deputy secretary asserted here.

WASHINGTON - The next year will be critical in Iraq, and now is the time to invest in peace, Peter Rodman, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, told the House Armed Services Committee here today.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Army Staff Sgt. Malcolm Jennings from the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Carson, Colo., said that at no other time in his eight years of military service did he experience the degree of gratitude he received from the Iraqi people while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

WASHINGTON - The United States welcomes Turkey's decision to send troops to Iraq, State Department officials said Oct. 7.

FORT HOOD, Texas - She stands in line at the post office waiting to send a package to her husband, a U.S. Army soldier serving in Kuwait. Envelopes, pens, paper, stamps, sunscreen, eye-drops, gum, batteries, powdered Gatorade, baby wipes and Twizzlers.

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti - A live concert featuring the band "Collective Soul" provided a chance to kick back and relax for personnel from the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa here, which supports counterterrorism operations in the region.

WASHINGTON - Declaring that "our Army understands that right now, Iraq is the central battle in the war on terrorism," Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz praised the service's soldiers and civilians and their families here today for their "extraordinary record of accomplishment" and "selfless support."

Colorado Springs, Colo. - Dynamic Response '07, a study seminar to explore what transformation means for the alliance and how the NATO Response Force could be used in future crises and conflicts, was a success, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said here today.

FORT CARSON, Colo. - Just 10 months after he went off to Army basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., in May 2002, U.S. Army Pfc. Patrick Miller got a first-hand lesson in the true value of military training.

WASHINGTON - Whenever Ann Wolcott starts feeling sorry for herself over the loss of her son in Vietnam nearly 35 years ago, she helps someone else "who needs help more than me."

WASHINGTON - The United States needs to tighten controls on Internet sales of excess Defense Department laboratory equipment that could be used to make chemical and biological agents, a General Accounting Office official said here today.

DALLAS - Fisher House has agreed to distribute "Certifichecks" to wounded military personnel through its programs supporting military hospitals.

WASHINGTON - The United States is working diligently with neighbors to the south to shore up democratic states and take on terrorist organizations, said Army Gen. James E. Hill at the Association of the U.S. Army meeting here.

WASHINGTON - Although many in the standing-room-only audience expected to hear the Army's plans for the next Base Realignment and Closure round scheduled for 2005, Raymond DuBois, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, said that for now, the major issue concerning the Pentagon is the military's global footprint overseas.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - When the Class of 2007 cadets reported for in-processing at the U.S. Air Force Academy in late June, they found many new changes that are putting academy policies more directly in line with those of the active Air Force.

WASHINGTON - If you want make sure your holiday packages arrive to service members overseas on time, mail them by Nov. 13.

FORT CARSON, Colo. - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld thanked troops here today for following in the footsteps of Christopher "Kit" Carson, the celebrated hero of the American West for whom this post is named.

MOSUL - Clad in desert camouflage uniforms and modern battle gear, soldiers today look nothing like they did in World War II. But the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) is slowly reviving the spirit of its lineage with the reinstatement of unit distinctive helmet emblems similar to those worn 60 years ago in Europe.

WASHINGTON - While the number of attacks against coalition troops in Iraq has remained constant, the tactics enemy forces use have changed, coalition officials said today.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is working to develop electronic systems that will collect and store data that may be necessary to explain illnesses that later may arise in personnel. One way DoD is seeking to enhance force health protection is through the Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System, or DOEHRS.

WASHINGTON - One of the first things former Border Patrol schoolteacher Valerie Thatcher did when she started teaching in a district that serves a large population of military children was to attend a Military Child Education Coalition conference.

WASHINGTON - Tragedy brought Becky Lalush and Millie C. Williams together. They didn't know each other until after their sons were killed together in a helicopter accident in Iraq on March 30.

GULFPORT, Miss. - Richard D. Beaver is one of the last of a few. And at 84 years old, he's an "endangered species" of the Silver Eagles - the World War II enlisted pilots of the sea services.

WASHINGTON - The man leading the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq expressed surprise here today that media reports focused mainly on what his team has yet to find and not on what it has turned up so far after his Oct. 2 interim report to Congress.

WASHINGTON - With the first battalion of 750 soldiers trained for the new Iraqi army, President Bush said coalition efforts continue to make "steady progress" toward Iraqi self-government.

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein deceived the international community, violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441, and was a danger to the world, President George W. Bush said today, summarizing chief weapons inspector Dr. David Kay's progress report to Congress on his team's investigation of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld will welcome NATO Secretary General George Robertson to the informal meeting of NATO defense ministers Oct. 8 and 9 in Colorado Springs, Colo.

WASHINGTON - Uniformed services personnel, retirees and family members will soon experience the benefits of a new retail pharmacy contract, according to Pentagon health affairs officials.

WASHINGTON - While weapons of mass destruction have yet to be found in Iraq, Saddam Hussein clearly intended to produce them and hid the program from United Nations inspectors, the chief U.S. weapons inspector said here Oct. 2.

GULFPORT, Miss. - A former Navy SEAL said he likes the Armed Forces Retirement Home here so much, "They would have to drag me kicking and screaming to get me out of here. They treat people so well here it's amazing. They treat you so well, it makes me feel guilty sometimes."

WASHINGTON - If you're a National Guardsman or Reservist, chances are about 64 percent that you've been called to active duty during one of seven major mobilizations since 1990. There's about a 4 to 5 percent chance that you've been mobilized two or more times.

WASHINGTON - One of the lessons learned from Operation Iraqi Freedom is the "power of jointness" Army Brig. Gen. Robert W. Cone, director of the Joint Center for Lessons Learned, U.S. Joint Forces Command, told reporters assembled at the Pentagon here Oct. 2.

WASHINGTON - Military health officials want to know why almost a third of the members of a U.S. quick-reaction force that recently served in Liberia came down with malaria.

WASHINGTON - Recognizing the achievements of Hispanic Americans and their contributions to America, President Bush said Oct. 2 that the United States is blessed by the "talents" and "hard work" of Hispanic Americans.

WASHINGTON - When Andrew L. Chernak was preparing to sculpt a statue honoring the American Gold Star Mothers, he needed a face showing the extreme grief and pain of a mother who lost a child during wartime.

WASHINGTON - The American taxpayer will not have to foot the entire bill for rebuilding post-Saddam Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today.

MOSUL - More than $2.25 million Coalition Provisional Authority dollars are being invested in Mosul city sewage projects, with nearly every dollar spent on the project going toward replacing outdated and broken equipment.

WASHINGTON - Capabilities to enhance joint warfighting and to beef up intelligence collection, analysis and dispersion are at the top of the "lessons learned" from Operation Iraqi Freedom, the commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command told the House Armed Services Committee here today.

MOSUL, Iraq - Coalition soldiers relinquished security and guarding responsibilities of Objective Jaguar, an ammunition supply point, to the soldiers from Delta Company, part of the Iraq Civil Defense Corps in a ceremony here Oct. 1.

WASHINGTON - Pop artist Peter Max unveiled a new poster today at the Pentagon that he hopes will raise $1 million for the Pentagon Memorial Fund.

WASHINGTON - The United States is better prepared to face terrorist threats today and the U.S. Northern Command will continue to improve U.S. capabilities, the head of that unified command said today.

WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush today signed legislation providing $31 billion for Homeland Security purposes for fiscal 2004.

WASHINGTON - A third person possibly tied to espionage at the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- this one a civilian contractor who worked as a translator -- was charged today with making false, fictitious or fraudulent statements regarding computer disks he carried during a flight from Egypt.

WASHINGTON - Stressing that the United States is committed to meeting its Chemical Weapons Convention obligations, officials have asked for an extension on the deadline for destroying its intermediate 45 percent chemical weapons stockpile.

WASHINGTON - A spate of cases of severe pneumonia that had killed two U.S. service members deployed to Southwest Asia seems to have ended, a senior Defense Department health official said here Sept. 29.

WASHINGTON - The Navy and U.S. Joint Forces Command, will conduct a seminar wargame at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., Oct. 6-9.

WASHINGTON - The American Gold Star Mothers finally got something they've wanted for years: their own gold star flags to fly under the American flag at the organization's headquarters on Embassy Row here.

NATICK, Mass. - For the second time in three years, the Natick Soldier Center at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center here has been named the Army's best small research and development laboratory of the year.

WASHINGTON - Rebuilding Iraq is as important to long-term security in the region as providing a secure environment, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during testimony to the House Appropriations Defense subcommittee today.

WASHINGTON - In an open letter to employers, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld thanked them for their continued support of their National Guard and Reserve employees called to active duty to support the global war on terrorism.