WASHINGTON - Results of a 1995 worldwide DoD survey of health behaviors show service members are using alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs at the lowest rates since the department began the survey in 1980.

WASHINGTON - If there is an upside to downsizing DoDs civilian personnel work force, its in the automated processes that will save managers countless hours filling positions -- and give employees fingertip access to personnel documents.

WASHINGTON - A threemonth Army investigation concluded there is no widespread or organized extremist activities in the Army. Still, Army officials said they are taking steps to revise current regulations that govern involvement in extremist organizations.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton today signed a bill extending special tax benefits to military personnel serving in BosniaHerzegovina, Croatia and Macedonia. The benefits are retroactive to Nov. 21, 1995.

WASHINGTON - The starting benefit for Servicemen's Group Life Insurance increases from $100,000 to $200,000 beginning April 1.

PANAMA CITY, Panama - Will the United States maintain a military presence in Panama after 1999?

WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday thanked U.S. military peacekeepers and said they made history during their deployment to Haiti.

WASHINGTON - It sounds like a joke, but its not. With less than four years until the year 2000, scientists and technicians around the world are trying to teach computers how to tell what year it is.

QUANTICO MARINE CORPS BASE, Va. - Army captured 11 gold and seven silver medals to win its seventh straight armed forces wrestling championship here March 1416.

CARACAS, VENEZUELA - From the peaks of the Andes to the frigid waters of Cape Horn to the jungles of Brazil, U.S. service members are forging new bonds with their South American counterparts.

SANTIAGO, Chile - "We are at the threshold of a new, promising era of prosperity, peace and stability in South America," U.S. Defense Secretary William J. Perry told U.S. troops stationed here.

WASHINGTON - DoD's fiscal 1997 budget will continue providing quality of life enhancements, the defense department's personnel and readiness chief said.

WASHINGTON - DoD's Armed Forces Sports Committee modified its 1996 sports schedule, delaying the mens' and womens' basketball tournaments until April.

SANTIAGO, Chile - The United States is sending a second carrier task force to the waters near Taiwan, said Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

WASHINGTON - Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey has a new command. He's hung up his uniform and left his post as commander in chief of U.S. Southern Command to take on another job for the country.

WASHINGTON - Sending food to service members in Bosnia? Department of Agriculture officials have some tips for families and friends who want to send food to Operation Joint Endeavor troops.

WASHINGTON - The Marines have landed in the Pentagon after 54 years in temporary quarters.

WASHINGTON, March 7 - The United States will always be ready to use military force to defend American interests, said the nation's top security adviser.

WASHINGTON - Forty years ago, a recruit named Bill Perry lived in a World War II wood barracks. Today, some troops still live in the antiquated, hastily constructed, wartime housing.

WASHINGTON - DoD medical beneficiaries will now have the opportunity to participate in clinical trials of new cancer treatments sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.

WASHINGTON - Defense Logistics Agency officials are scrambling to keep up with thousands of bulk donations flooding into agency's facilities for shipment to troops in Bosnia, according to the agency's Joanne Barreca.

WASHINGTON - Since arriving in Hungary and the former Yugoslavia on Jan. 4, American Red Cross caseworkers have delivered more than 30 birth announcements and hundreds of urgent messages to U.S. service members there.

WASHINGTON - DoD's fiscal 1997 supports the defense strategy of preventing, deterring and defeating postCold War era threats, according to Defense Secretary William J. Perry.

WASHINGTON - Modernizing the force is a top priority in DoD's fiscal 1997 budget, senior defense officials said.

WASHINGTON - Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston became the fourth vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during ceremonies here.

WASHINGTON - Service members and civilian workers will receive a 3 percent pay raise if Congress approves President Clintons $243.4 billion fiscal 1997 defense budget.