WASHINGTON - The 7-year-old daughter of a Marine Corps couple stationed in Hawaii won the 1996 Armed Services YMCA poster contest.

WASHINGTON - The United States would like to continue developing the security relationship with Russia, with the "pragmatic partnership" between the countries doing much to secure peace in Europe and the world.

WASHINGTON, DC - A pair of Mexican navy petty officers grabbed the winning spotlights at the 21st annual Marine Corps Marathon, held here Oct. 27.

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is trying to contact more than 20,000 Gulf War veterans who may have been exposed to nerve gas when U.S. soldiers destroyed Iraqi ammunition in March 1991.

WASHINGTON - For the next 12 months, active duty service members in the Veterans Educational Assistance Program may enroll in the Montgomery GI Bill.

STUTTGART-VAIHINGEN, Germany - Some people have a gift for buying the wrong presents at Christmas. While this is normally a matter of taste, many items that make good Christmas presents are not so good from the customs point of view.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is notifying members and veterans of units listed here who may have been exposed to nerve gas during the Persian Gulf War. These units were located within a 31mile radius of Kamisiyah, Iraq, where chemical weapons were destroyed March 415, 1991.

WASHINGTON - Officials at the Pentagon's ceremony Oct. 15 to honor DoD employees with disabilities and agencies' hiring practices praised DoD's efforts.

WASHINGTON, DC - Congress did not pass legislation enabling medicare-eligible military retirees to sign up for TRICARE.

WASHINGTON - Eighteen DoD employees with disabilities and three defense components were honored during ceremonies at the Pentagon Oct. 15.

TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina - What does it mean to have your name and photograph in print for all the world to see? To some, it means a documentation of their accomplishments or failures. To others, it's a record of their existence for future generations to see.

WASHINGTON - Service members on temporary duty orders will receive a more flexible and simplified per diem meal rate.

WASHINGTON, DC - A pair of soldiers cruised to victories here Oct. 13 in the 12th annual Army Ten-Miler race.

WASHINGTON, DC - Navy Master Chief Petty Officer Sonny Kirkwood, Army Capt. Kimbra Patterson and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Rusty Jones claimed individual titles at the armed forces golf championships.

WASHINGTON, DC - With the holiday season fast approaching, Military Postal Service Agency officials again urge those sending gifts to mail early.

WASHINGTON, DC - DoD's Armed Forces Sports Committee will hold 21 championship tournaments at 10 installations in 1997, beginning Feb. 9 with the armed forces boxing tournament at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

FORT LEE, Va. - Commissaries at Fort Myer, Va., Whiting Field, Fla., RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, and Bamberg, Germany, walked off with top honors in this year's commissary competition.

WASHINGTON, DC - A 3 percent pay raise and a 4 percent raise in basic allowance for quarters are two results of the Defense Authorization Act President Clinton signed Sept. 23.

WASHINGTON - Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman named Chief Master Sgt. Eric W. Benken to serve as the 12th chief master sergeant of the Air Force.

NORFOLK NAVAL BASE, Va. - The three service secretaries took another step toward greater interservice cooperation and joint operations in meetings Oct. 4-5 on board Navy ships of the Atlantic Fleet at sea and at Norfolk, Va.

WASHINGTON - What first occurred more than a year ago, happened again this fall and is now slated to happen again next year.

TUZLA, Bosnia-Herzegovina - Cooperation is a key word for the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was stressed often during a recent meeting between Bosnian police and the first U.S. Army Civil Affairs team assigned to work with them.

WASHINGTON - "I once heard someone ask, 'What's the difference between the American dream and everyone else's dream?' The answer is that everybody else's dream is to come to America," said Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili at a naturalization ceremony in the rotunda of the National Archives and Records Administration here.

BARILOCHE, Argentina - While defense chiefs from 34 nations held highlevel talks here to strengthen security ties, U.S. Southern Command troops were making multinational contacts in the field daily, doing handson training and performing missions.

WASHINGTON - Bernard Rostker, assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs, will guide DoD's investigation of illnesses reported by Gulf War veterans.

Bariloche, Argentina - Manuals advocating torture and other inhumane treatment will never again be part of DoD training, said U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

BARILOCHE, Argentina - Defense Secretary William J. Perry signs deployment orders every week. Many are routine, others require a lot of thought about how U.S. forces should be used.

BARILOCHE, Argentina - Establishing civilian control of the military is a necessity in many fledgling democracies. The United States now plans to help teach civilian defense leaders to run their armed forces.

WASHINGTON - All U.S. members of a force covering the withdrawal of troops from Bosnia will be out by midMarch, defense officials told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Bariloche, Argentina - The United States is reviewing its Latin American arms sale policy now that most nations in the region are democracies, according to U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

WASHINGTON - A new brochure on the way to military hospitals and clinics describes TRICARE, DoD's health care plan in an easytoread, straightforward manner.

FORT EUSTIS, Va. - The top spot in the Defense Commissary Agency will be held by a civilian for the first time in the agency's five-year history -- and for the first time in the history of modern commissaries. The leap from military to civilian director won't be too long, however, because DoD named retired Army Maj. Gen. Richard E. Beale Jr. director for transition at DeCA.

WASHINGTON - Air Mobility Command's antiterrorism program has two goals: Keep every member safe and keep every resource secure.

FORT LEE, Va. - The Defense Commissary Agency has been recognized with two Hammer Awards from the National Performance Review for its "common sense" approach to getting the job done.

BERGEN, Norway - NATO is looking to the future -- a future role in Bosnia, expanded relations with Russia, new alliance members and a streamlined command structure.

WASHINGTON - A terrorist bomb explodes, people die, security is tightened.

BERGEN, Norway - In Russia, "NATO" is still a dreaded word.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - At first, Finnish and Swedish officials did not want to join NATO's Partnership for Peace. The nations had always relied on their own defense forces for security.

BERGEN, Norway - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are on the right path to joining NATO, but not yet ready for membership, according to U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

WASHINGTON - Persian Gulf War veterans eligible for the Kuwait Liberation Medal who have not received the award should apply through their service channels.

WASHINGTON - Sixty percent of patients surveyed in the Pacific Northwest say they're satisfied with the care they get under TRICARE.

BERGEN, Norway, Sept. 23 - As NATO defense chiefs gathered here for their annual informal meeting, a flock of international reporters asked: "Will NATO stay in Bosnia after IFOR's mission ends Dec. 20?"

BERGEN, Norway - A scuttled Russian submarine rests beneath glacial Arctic waters, its radioactive nuclear fuel a deadly reminder of the Cold War. Such lethal remains and their possible effect on the Arctic environment have raised a red flag among international defense officials.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Secretary of Defense John White took control Sept. 25 of the Pentagon's investigation of illnesses reported by Gulf War veterans.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Voting Assistance Program now has a site on the World Wide Web.

WASHINGTON - A 3 percent pay raise and a 4 percent raise in basic allowance for quarters are two results of the Defense Authorization Act President Clinton signed Sept. 23.