WASHINGTON - The United States will maintain its strategic nuclear arsenal even as it streamlines and modernizes its armed forces, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen told personnel at U.S. Strategic Command.

WASHINGTON - While the June 1998 deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal from Bosnia remains firm, President Clinto said, European officials must speed up reconstruction efforts.

WASHINGTON - U.S. forces began evacuating American citizens and third country nationals from Sierra Leone May 30 after a military coup left the security situation in the West African nation uncertain.

WASHINGTON - Four aviation units that have been supporting Bosnia stabilization forces are slated to return home in June. A change to the threat assessment in the region means they will not be replaced by stateside units.

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - It flies through the air, with the greatest of ease; a rope it slides on, not a trapeze.

WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M. - An old adage says you can tell a lot about an army by the garbage it leaves behind. When New Mexico state environmentalists got a whiff of White Sands garbage in 1994, they smelled a rat.

WASHINGTON - Serving as a guardian of the nation is an "awesome responsibility," said William S. Cohen.

WASHINGTON - TSgt. Frenchie Evans, dormitory facility manager at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, has been named National Volunteer of the Year by the Armed Services YMCA.

WASHINGTON - In the aftermath of World War II, Secretary of State George C. Marshall -- general of the Army who later became secretary of defense -- unveiled a plan at Harvard University June 5, 1947, that changed the course of world history.

WASHINGTON - "Today, I affirm to the people of Europe, as Gen. Marshall did 50 years ago: America stands with you. We have learned the lessons of history. We will not walk away."

WASHINGTON - Harnessing today's revolution in military technology will require a similar revolution in the way the military does business, Deputy Defense Secretary John P. White said in Chicago May 22.

WASHINGTON - The Navy named its newest roll-on/roll- off cargo ship in honor of an Army Medal of Honor recipient May 24, at Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va., DoD officials said.

WASHINGTON - Defense officials have removed about 80 percent of DoD's 3 million nonself-destructing anti-personnel landmines from military stockpiles, Pentagon officials said May 15. The mines are slated for destruction.

WASHINGTON - With the Berlin Wall reduced to rubble, the Soviet empire dissolved and the Cold War a distant memory, why should the United States maintain the best armed forces in the world?

DALLAS - The Army and Air Force Exchange Service announces the immediate recall of children's ExtraValue sandals by Wiesner Products, Inc.

WASHINGTON - The nation must ensure America's men and women in uniform have the best training, equipment and preparation possible to do their jobs, "because even in times of peace, we must remain vigilant in a very new and still uncertain world."

WASHINGTON - In a ceremony marking a formal end to the Cold War, U.S. President Bill Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and 15 other NATO nation leaders signed a pact May 27 in Paris linking Eastern and Western Europe.

WASHINGTON - President Clinton hailed NATO plans to invite new members into the security alliance as the right thing to do during a White House photo opportunity with NATO Secretary General Javier Solana May 19.

WASHINGTON - DoD is slimming down to make way for the future. Quadrennial Defense Review proposals call for cutting troops, civilian employees, bases and major equipment buys as the military streamlines operations to pay for modernization.

WASHINGTON - American troops can expect to see more of their Russian counterparts in the year ahead as the United States and Russia strengthen their growing military relationship.

WASHINGTON - NATO and Russia are forming a new partnership that will link the former Cold War foe to Western Europe, White House officials announced May 14.

WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials reached an agreement May 14, with North Korea to search for remains of American troops missing since the Korean War.

WASHINGTON - U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region benefits China as well as other nations, U.S. Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili told students at China's top military school.

WASHINGTON - Engaging China through military-to-military contacts will promote better understanding, clearer communications, greater confidence and deeper cooperation, U.S. Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili said recently in Beijing.

WASHINGTON - A "hot peace" has followed the Cold War as the United States faces such regional aggressors as Iraq and North Korea, U.S. Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili told Chinese military students and officials in Beijing.

WASHINGTON - Fort Benning, Ga., Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, N.C., Ingleside Naval Station, Texas, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and the Defense Supply Center, Richmond, Va., have won the 1997 Commander in Chief's Award for Installation Excellence.

WASHINGTON - The Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified combatant commanders are "on board" in their support for the Quadrennial Defense Review about to be unveiled May 19.

WASHINGTON - Just as service members are expected to be lean, mean, fighting machines, so should the rest of DoD, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said here May 15.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Voting Assistance Program encourages service members and DoD employees worldwide to vote.

WASHINGTON - DoD recommends Congress suspend an insurance program designed to compensate reservists involuntarily called to active duty.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary William S. Cohen and Russian Defense Minister Igor Rodionov addressed the problems of disposing of Russian nuclear and chemical weapons during a Pentagon news briefing May 13.

WASHINGTON - The military had its turn under the microscope, now it's time to closely examine DoD's civilian side.

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - Acquisition professionals will have a chance to share information at the 1997 Acquisition Research Symposium, June 25-27, in Rockville, Md.

WASHINGTON - Service members living stateside off-post may see more money starting Jan. 1 if Congress allows DoD to change the way it computes monthly housing allowances.

FORT BENNING, Ga. - Air Force men and Army women repeated their 1996 performances by capturing the 1997 Armed Forces Volleyball Championships May 7-10 here.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Army 1st Lt. Alisha Williams of Camp Humphreys, Korea, won a gold medal, while three teammates kicked for bronze medals to highlight the Army's finish at the 23rd U.S. National Taekwondo Championships. The tournament was held May 7-11 here.

WASHINGTON - Women in Military Service for America organizers announced the schedule of events leading to the Women's Memorial dedication at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.

WASHINGTON - The presidential advisory committee on Gulf War veterans' illnesses doesn't like the way government agencies are handling the investigation of illnesses thousands of Gulf War veterans say they contracted during the 1991 conflict.

WASHINGTON - Defense health officials are concerned that many service families signed up for family dental care aren't actively participating in the program.

WASHINGTON - Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon at a press briefing May 8 repeated his earlier statement that sexual misconduct, not race, is the issue in current cases involving Army NCOs.

CAMP LESTER, Japan - Pregnant and desperately ill, Sue Daywalt was strapped to a hospital gurney, prepped for an eight-hour flight to the Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu.

WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii - A column of equipment-laden soldiers, M-16 rifles tightly gripped, radio antennas bobbing from backpacks, slogs along the rain-soaked, red-mud shoulder of a winding rural road.

WASHINGTON - Congress is considering legislation to suspend the Ready Reserve Mobilization Insurance Program for the rest of fiscal 1997, said DoD reserve affairs officials. Legislators are also considering a broad range of options that will make the income insurance program self-sufficient.

WASHINGTON - DoD won nearly half the 1997 White House environmental Closing the Circle Awards presented here May 5.

WASHINGTON - Army Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Sen. Strom Thurmond and received awards May 1 from The Retired Officers Association.

WASHINGTON - Former Army drill sergeant Staff Sgt. Delmar G. Simpson was sentenced May 6 to 25 years' imprisonment, loss of all pay and allowances, reduction to the lowest enlisted rank and a dishonorable discharge by a six-member military panel at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

WASHINGTON - The USS The Sullivans recently rejoined the fleet, ensuring one Navy family's World War II sacrifice will be remembered.

WASHINGTON - Four combat veterans stared at four powerful words etched into the shiny black granite wall of the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

WASHINGTON - "Shape," "respond," "prepare" sum up the nation's future defense strategy, William S. Cohen said here May 6.

WASHINGTON - Sexual misconduct is the issue at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., not race or mixed-gender training, said Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon, after a military court sentenced an Army drill sergeant to prison for rape.

WASHINGTON - DoD officials began preparations to celebrate the department's golden anniversary with observances slated Sept. 15-19 at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - North Koreans negotiating with DoD POW/MIA officials in New York have agreed to meet with family members of U.S. servicemen missing since the Korean War.

MONTEREY, Calif. - U.S. Navy ships may one day defend against missiles by zapping them with a laser, and a Naval Postgraduate School graduate could take some credit for this accomplishment.

DALLAS - Service members will save millions due to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service's new 4 Ways to Save pricing strategy.

WASHINGTON - Defense secretaries come and go, but DoD's public servants stay to carry out the mission, William S. Cohen said during Pentagon Public Service Recognition Week ceremonies.

WASHINGTON - In a Pentagon salute to public servants, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen called on DoD's civilian work force to revolutionize the way the department does business.

WASHINGTON - A policy established recently allows delayed entry program service members easier access to military exchanges and morale, welfare and recreation programs.

WASHINGTON - The United States and Ukraine signed three agreements May 1, one aimed at further eliminating Ukraine's nuclear arms and two establishing military medical cooperation.

WASHINGTON - Global terrorism dropped to a 25-year low in 1996, but last year's attacks were much more deadly than in the past, according to a State Department report released April 30.

WASHINGTON - Deputy Defense Secretary John P. White announced he will step down as the No. 2 official in the department this summer.

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. Sen. Warren Rudman was appointed a special adviser on Gulf War illness issues May 1 by Secretary of Defense William Cohen.

WASHINGTON - Air Force Staff Sgt. Elton Price and Army Sgt. Angele Ringo garnered top individual honors in DoD's 1996 Thomas Jefferson journalism competition.

WASHINGTON - More than 700 airmen and their families face weeks of uncertainty and possibly years of financial recovery after being forced from their homes by the flooding Red River of the North.

FORT LEE, Va. - TAPS is playing at a commissary near you. But it's not the end, it's just the beginning. A regional pilot program to speed hiring commissary cashiers has proven a major success. Now, anyone in the United States can apply to be a commissary cashier simply by picking up the phone and calling TAPS.

CAMP H. M. SMITH, Hawaii - The Marine Corps needs new weapons and equipment despite its high state of combat readiness, according to the senior Marine in the Pacific.

CAMP H. M. SMITH, Hawaii - Marine Corps Forces Pacific is, the commander said, "a '911' expeditionary force -- the best emergency response when crisis calls."

WASHINGTON - What does the future hold for the military? Will there be further troop cuts? Base closures? These are some questions to be answered May 15.

WASHINGTON - The cost of Servicemember's Group Life Insurance will drop from 9 cents per $1,000 to 8.5 cents, beginning July 1.

WASHINGTON - DoD has added two cities to the places Bernard Rostker, the department's special assistant for Gulf War illnesses, will visit to address veterans' health concerns.