WASHINGTON - Army Sgt. Keith Sieracki is seeking redemption in New York.

NAVAL BASE VENTURA COUNTY, POINT MUGU, Calif. - The Marine Corps won the 2001 Armed Forces Triathlon Championship here June 16 in the face of 58- degree water temperatures, rough surf and overcast skies.

WASHINGTON, DC - The fiscal 2002 DoD budget request totals $329.9 billion, a $38.2 billion increase from fiscal 2001 and $18.4 billion more than the "blueprint" submitted by the Bush administration in February.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said a $38.2 billion increase in the DoD budget request is necessary because the military is suffering from years of underfunding.

WASHINGTON - The fiscal 2002 DoD budget request concentrates on service members, who would receive at least a 5 percent pay raise, further reductions in out- of-pocket housing expenses, and better housing and facilities.

WASHINGTON - Members of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services pledged last fall to come up with 50 ways to help recruiting efforts in their home communities.

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WASHINGTON - In the absence of firm guidance from the Quadrennial Defense Review, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's fiscal 2002 defense budget request concentrates on people programs and on trying to arrest rates of decline in readiness and weapon systems procurement.

WASHINGTON - Equal employment opportunity discrimination complaints can take weeks, months and even years to resolve. In fact, the average life of a complaint can be three to five years. But there is a way to address and resolve workplace disputes within hours: It's called "alternative dispute resolution."

WASHINGTON - Diversity in the federal work force is a government goal. To DoD managers grumbling about how hard it is to find employees who could help them meet the challenge, Renee Coates might say, "Grow your own".

WASHINGTON - DoD's new military and civilian personnel management chief said he is working to implement President Bush's budget proposals to improve service members' pay, housing and retired health care.

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - The United States isn't under the constant threat from communism that the last generation dealt with. Instead, we're dealing with less traditional threats -- terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, computer network attacks.

WASHINGTON - DoD officials are looking into the capabilities that will be important to the department in the future and what systems DoD should invest in.

WASHINGTON - DoD officials announced that the fiscal 2002 budget would raise defense spending to $329 billion.

WASHINGTON - Defense Department computer security systems and specialists foiled nearly 22,500 would-be intruders in 1999 and 24,500 in 2000. There's no let-up in sight.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress the way U.S. armed forces are configured must change to deal with the new threats of the 21st century.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Republic of Korea Defense Minister Kim Dong- shin discussed the long-standing U.S.-South Korea relationship during a June 21 meeting in the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON - The DoD Inspector General found "no systemic problems" in the department's handling of overseas absentee ballots during the 2000 election.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress the way U.S. armed forces are configured must change to deal with the new threats of the 21st century.

WASHINGTON - A senior defense official said June 20 he believes a transformed U.S. military probably will stay about the same size it is today, but it will be configured differently.

WASHINGTON - By 2010, the transformation of the military could be a fifth to a quarter accomplished, U.S. Joint Forces Command officials said.

WASHINGTON - "Transforming the military" is an amorphous phrase. What it means depends on what you do, where you sit or how you currently do your job.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military must transform to meet the threats of the 21st century. So how does that happen?

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WASHINGTON - Computers and the Internet deliver a world of information that enriches the lives of many disabled people, but they also create challenges that DoD, other government agencies and the private sector must do more to solve.

SAN DIEGO - Are military people healthier than their civilian counterparts or are they at greater risk for illnesses due to their military service?

WASHINGTON - DoD is establishing a Senior Executive Council to implement modern business practices in the department and to guide transformation efforts in the services.

WASHINGTON - At the heart of the Quadrennial Defense Review is the need to have "a strategy-driven budget rather than a budget-driven strategy," a senior DoD civilian official said June 14.

WASHINGTON - Hollywood has elevated the spy story to a cliché. A megalomaniac steals U.S. secrets and a U.S. agent fends off an army of goons as he retrieves the secrets, gets the girl and saves the world, all in two hours.

WASHINGTON - The American public holds the military in high regard, but "the propensity to serve is very low," a high-level Pentagon adviser said June 13.

WASHINGTON - The American public holds the military in high regard, but "the propensity to serve is very low," retired Adm. David Jeremiah, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters June 13 while discussing the far- reaching review of quality-of-life and morale issues he led at the request of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

WASHINGTON - Perfecting an architecture for joint forces command and control is key to transforming the U.S. military, said the chief of the transformation review panel set up by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

WASHINGTON - As Father's Day approaches, I'm reminded of my father and his proud service in the Navy during World War II. I remember my experiences growing up in a Navy family. We moved quite a bit when I was young, and there were times when my father's duty aboard an aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean took him away from home for long periods. But we knew we were supporting him in work that was important to our country. Later, during my own service in the Navy, I learned, as my father had, what it means to serve your country with the support of a dedicated family.

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - The military is shopping for recruits in a suburban Virginia mall, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Trent Riley is convinced it's a good idea.

WASHINGTON - Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania hope it's their turn to join NATO when the alliance starts its next round of expansion discussions.

SPRINGFIELD, Va. - Third-grader Genevieve Kobus told a story of a superhero who destroys a villain who tries to prevent children from reading.

WASHINGTON - If you owed federal income taxes for 2000, a check for up to $600 will be in the mail for you by September.

WASHINGTON - Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said he and Russian counterpart Sergey Borisovich Ivanov discussed missile defense and a broad range of other issues during discussions June 8 at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

WASHINGTON - DoD is further curtailing the anthrax immunization program due to inadequate supplies of the vaccine, DoD officials said June 11.

WASHINGTON - The United States will build and deploy a ballistic missile defense system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said June 7 to defense ministers gathered at NATO headquarters here.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld told NATO defense ministers here June 7 that the trans-Atlantic alliance must prepare now for future threats to international peace and stability.

BEDFORD, Va. - President Bush came to this small Blue Ridge town June 6 to dedicate the National D-Day Memorial to the soldiers who assaulted the beaches of Normandy, France, during World War II.

WASHINGTON - "AFIS On Assignment" is a weekly publication of the American Forces Information Service.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The United States will build and deploy a ballistic missile defense system, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said June 7 to defense ministers gathered NATO headquarters here.

KIEV, Ukraine - A post-Cold War defense structure is needed by peaceful nations to safeguard against the threat presented by weapons of mass destruction, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Ukrainian defense officials here June 5.

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld received an Army physical training jacket and thunderous cheers June 5 from hundreds of soldiers on peacekeeping duty here.

THESSALONIKI, Greece - Troops will be needed for peacekeeping duties in the Balkans for the foreseeable future, said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld here June 6.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Soviet troops aren't planning to crash through the Fulda Gap into the heart of Europe, and the United States doesn't expect to be attacked by thousands of nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles fired from Russia.

ANKARA, Turkey - Bilateral talks with Turkish leaders ranging from Operation Northern Watch to the European Defense Initiative topped U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld calendar here June 4.

WASHINGTON - Job-seeking military spouses in Europe received a special gift June 1 in the forms of more flexible and less restrictive DoD employment options.

WASHINGTON - President Bush has sent Congress a $5.9 billion supplemental request to make up for shortfalls in the fiscal 2001 budget. The request slates $5.6 billion for DoD.

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2001 - Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld left Washington June 3 on a weeklong trip to Europe where he will visit U.S. troops in Turkey and the Balkans and confer with senior foreign officials.

ANKARA, Turkey - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld praised U.S. service members on peacekeeping duty in the Balkans and those flying missions out of Turkey in support of Operation Northern Watch.

ANKARA, Turkey - China has garnered a lot of the Pentagon's attention lately, but that's no signal U.S. defense planners have written off Europe, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said June 3.

WASHINGTON - Since January, People, Ebony, Time, Sports Illustrated and other national magazines have been carrying colorful recruiting poster ads depicting members from different service branches with their families.

WASHINGTON - Some soldiers, airmen and sailors will find less money in their paychecks for awhile, thanks to a software glitch that overpaid them since January, Defense Finance and Accounting Service officials said.

WASHINGTON - American officials in Yemen investigating the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole have moved their operation from the port of Aden to the capital, Sana'a.

WASHINGTON - Today's Guard and Reserve troops serve alongside their active-duty counterparts as partners, not auxiliaries, DoD's senior reserve affairs official said.

WASHINGTON - DoD is working behind the scenes to create a national standard for collecting blood as the American Red Cross prepares to adopt new donor rules in September.

WASHINGTON - Some 5,600 active duty soldiers, 9,000 sailors and 1,000 airmen will find less money in their paychecks for awhile because a software glitch that overpaid them since January.