WASHINGTON - The U.S. men's 4,500-meter short course and women's 5,500-meter teams captured fourth place in the 46th Cross Country Military World Champions in Curragh, Ireland, March 9-14.

WASHINGTON - It was ironic. The Kansas Army and Air National Guard had planned an Emergency Awareness Week Fair March 8 at the state capitol, but Mother Nature had other plans.

WASHINGTON - "Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink!" That was the cry of people in the southeast Alabama city of Elba when El Nino-induced floods devastated the area, said Alabama National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. James Atchison.

MOSCOW - A handful of American service members working here have an unusual task: helping the Russians safeguard nuclear warheads as they are dismantled, transported and stored.

WASHINGTON - Downsizing. Reduction in force. Base closures. Outsourcing. Privatizing. Pay comparability. Retirement income. Promotion opportunities. Health benefits.

WASHINGTON - Name the four hockey teams that merged with the National Hockey League following the collapse of the World Hockey Association.

WASHINGTON - Inhibited red fuming nitric acid, a highly corrosive fuel component used with Iraqi missiles, filled a liquid storage tank found by British ordnance specialists after the Gulf War.

MONS, Belgium - About 1,800 troops from six nations, part of the 5,000-strong strategic reserve of the NATO Stabilization Force, will soon train in Bosnia for the first time.

WASHINGTON - A nine-person DoD search and recovery team arrived in Nicaragua March 15 to hunt for remains of a B-26 bomber crew that crashed there in 1961. The two-man civilian crew was supporting Bay of Pigs-related operations.

WASHINGTON - Modernization of current weapon systems and the development of new systems is necessary to carry the warfighter into the 21st century, DoD's acquisition chief told Congress March 12.

WASHINGTON - Where were you in '92, or any other year, for that matter? If you were a student in one of DoD's overseas schools, Overseas Brats cordially invites you to subscribe to a new, free newsletter.

WASHINGTON - When was the first crossword puzzle published in a newspaper?

WASHINGTON - "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find we have lost the future."

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Five months after announcing a business reform plan aimed at cutting fat to save military muscle, Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre reports progress is encouraging.

WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein must offer "convincing evidence" Iraq has destroyed its weapons of mass destruction before the current crisis can come to an end.

WASHINGTON - If you can't face doing your taxes, don't have the time or have a complicated return or tax situation, you may want to hire a professional tax preparer, said Internal Revenue Service officials.

WASHINGTON - The DoD initiative "Operation Be Fit" focuses on improving physical fitness activity opportunities and encouraging greater participation in fitness activities by service members, their families and DoD civilians.

WASHINGTON - What is the only major sport created in the United States that did not have its roots in another sport?

WASHINGTON - "There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."

WASHINGTON - My daughter is an avid soccer player who loves the game but doesn't necessarily understand the rules. She just loves the action.

BRUSSELS - Based on a dual-crisis scenario, NATO's largest-ever training exercise is testing the alliance's ability to conduct territorial defense and peace support operations simultaneously at two locations.

WASHINGTON - Saying the "front lines are no longer overseas," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen announced a new DoD program March 17 to respond to domestic attacks with weapons of mass destruction.

WASHINGTON - Army Brig. Gen. Roger Schultz is both clear and direct when he talks about the potential for attacks with weapons of mass destruction: "We don't know when and we don't know the place, but we will be attacked."

BRUSSELS - As U.S. troops, combat aircraft and warships gathered in the Persian Gulf in February, the U.S. military was quietly attacked on a second front. Defense officials detected systematic, sophisticated intrusions into DoD computer networks.

WASHINGTON - Deborah Lee has three words to sum up why Guard and reserve component forces have been given primary responsibility for responding to attacks by weapons of mass destruction: "Location, location, location."

WASHINGTON - Some DoD health care beneficiaries could lose access to TRICARE if they aren't enrolled in Medicare Part B by March 31.

WASHINGTON - Q&A for Living Healthy Longer

WASHINGTON - So you're taking the big step and you're ready to get started in a physical activity regimen that will lead to a healthier lifestyle.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William Cohen deferred a decision on gender integration at the lowest levels of basic training, but told the services to implement many other recommendations made by the Kassebaum Baker Gender Integration Panel.

BRUSSELS - Investigators say the pilot and crew of a U.S. Marine Corps EA-6B aircraft flew faster and lower than their mission allowed, thereby causing the Feb. 3 cable car accident that killed 20 skiers in northeast Italy.

WASHINGTON - DoD civilian and military leaders called on Congress to approve emergency funding to offset expenses incurred in Bosnia and Southwest Asia.

Washington - President Clinton's special envoy to the Balkans said the United States is not ruling out military action against Serbian forces if violence in the province of Kosovo continues.

WASHINGTON - Editor's Note: This article was updated March 17 by AFPSarticle 98152, DoD Accepts Gender-Integration Recommendations. (9803171.txt.html)

WASHINGTON - Five months ago, more than 30,000 people crowded the gateway to Arlington National Cemetery to witness the dedication of the Women in Military Service to America Memorial. When the memorial opened, Oct. 18, the stories of 300,000 military women were forever part of history in the computer register, the heart of the memorial.

WASHINGTON - Skeletal remains of Army Sgt. Douglas Alan Ross who died during the Vietnam War have been identified and returned to his family in Temple City, Calf., for burial.

WASHINGTON - Who was the first woman to receive the Medal of Honor?

WASHINGTON - The Women in Military Service to America Memorial Foundation is hosting two events in honor of Women's History Month.

WASHINGTON - Seventeen uniformed men and women are regional finalists for the 1998-1999 class of White House fellows.

WASHINGTON - Although a presidential advisory committee filed its final report last fall, the White House will continue monitoring DoD's investigation of Gulf War veterans' illnesses and chemical and biological warfare events during the war.

WASHINGTON - "Courage is the capacity to conduct oneself with restraint in times of prosperity and with courage and tenacity when things do not go well."

WASHINGTON - Americans who occasionally cough, wheeze or suffer shortness of breath are invited to take part in a nationwide asthma screening program in May.

BRUSSELS - How long will U.S. troops be in Bosnia? Why are they still there? Will they serve as police in the follow-on force? Will NATO's peacekeeping mission ever end?

BRUSSELS - The United States, the United Kingdom and other European nations strongly condemn recent violence against ethnic-Albanians in the southern Serb province of Kosovo.

WASHINGTON - A nationwide toll-free information line now offers enrollment assistance to military families and retirees who choose the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan over TRICARE. The new number is (800) 258-7347.

WASHINGTON - "These women, from Korea to Kuwait and from Sarajevo to San Diego, ... are preserving America's freedom in ways that their mothers and grandmothers could have only dreamed," Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said March 5 during DoD's Women's History Month observance.

WASHINGTON - Gary W. Amlin has moved from acting director to director of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service here. He manages worldwide DoD financial resources in excess of $1 trillion.

MONTEREY, Calif. - When John Glenn makes his historic return to space after 36 years this October, another, yet smaller feat will also make history. The Navy's first amateur satellite -- designed and built by students at the Naval Postgraduate School -- will hitchhike on the same space shuttle mission.

WASHINGTON - A new Patients' Bill of Rights directs all federal health plans to comply with the President's Quality Commission consumer bill of rights.

WASHINGTON - The vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Retirement Home here Feb. 27 to assess how well the military "takes care of its own."

WASHINGTON - The "Chairman of the Board" presented his annual report to "stockholders" during a March 2 address at Washington's Sheraton Hotel.

WASHINGTON - Flags waved in the breeze. Military bands played upbeat patriotic tunes. Welcoming crowds and throngs of people around the world cheered, cried and prayed. Television cameras beamed pictures of the returning heroes around the world. Radio waves hummed with news of their release from prison while presses cranked out stories and pictures.

WASHINGTON - A new career assistance center in the Pentagon, created in response to the Defense Reform Initiative, will help DoD employees and family members find new jobs outside DoD.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Women reporting news today from Baghdad, Bosnia or any other world hot spot is not unusual. But 60 years ago, women war correspondents were a breed apart. Pioneers like Martha Gellhorn paved the way for CNN's Christiane Amanpour and others.

BRUSSELS - A fourth Bosnian Serb war criminal indicted by the International Crimes Tribunal for Yugoslavia voluntarily surrendered March 4 to NATO stabilization forces in Bosnia.

WASHINGTON - Military strength decreased by almost 35,000 in the past year. As of Jan. 31, the armed forces is 1,422,766 service members strong.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton has proclaimed March as American Red Cross Month. He urged Americans to support Red Cross chapters nationwide and challenged them to get involved in advancing the organization's humanitarian work.

PORT HUENEME, Calif. - The Army continued its dominance of interservice boxing competitions by winning the overall 1998 Armed Forces Boxing Championships Feb. 10-13 at the Naval Construction Battalion Center here.

WASHINGTON - What is the highest overlook on the rim of the Grand Canyon?

WASHINGTON - "Learning is not obtained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."

WASHINGTON - A veteran physician and former deputy assistant secretary of defense may soon return to the Pentagon as DoD's senior health official.

WASHINGTON - The 36,000 U.S. service members and civilians in the Persian Gulf will start receiving anthrax vaccine this week, Pentagon officials announced March 3.Immunization for all other active duty and reserve component service members will begin this summer. The immunizations are mandatory.

MONS, Belgium - Old ways are giving way to new in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Since the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991, change has swept these lands.

WASHINGTON - Choosing the right Form 1040 tax form to use when doing your federal taxes may save you time and money, said Internal Revenue Service officials.

WASHINGTON - Many misused words and wordy constructions are so common they slip past even experienced copy editors and find their way into print. Here are a few examples. Would you catch them?

WASHINGTON - Women in uniform are integral to the telling of military history, and fortunately, service women receive their due on the Internet.