PHOTO: PH2 GREGORY MESSIER, USN
Lt. Gen. Randolph W. House, Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command welcomes the visit of Vietnam's Vice Minister of Defense, Lt. Gen. Tranh Hanh, and Maj. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Van to Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. This was among Lt. Gen. House's first duties, having just assumed the position of Deputy Commander in Chief on 30 September 1998, replacing Lt. Gen. J. E. DeFrancisco. Lt. Gen. House has served combat tours in Vietnam and Desert Storm, where he commanded a cavalry brigade, and served as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense. His most recent duty was in Korea as Commander of Eight U.S. Army and as Chief of Staff, United Nations Command/ Republic of Korea-United States Combined Forces Command.

PHOTO: SSGT. NELSON JAMES, USAF
Nearly 250,000 Japanese citizens crowded onto the flightline of Misawa Air Base in northern Japan in September for the 1998 Misawa Air Festival. The festival included shows by Japanese and U.S. Air Force aerial demonstration teams.

PHOTO: DCC(SW) COLETTE HARRIS, USN
U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jan van Tol gives out food packages to residents of a fishing village in Indonesia. The U.S. Navy personnel also provided free medical care during a Medical Civic Action program for the villagers, affected greatly by Indonesia's severe economic problems.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE JOURNAL
The Australian Corps Memorial Park was opened in July 1998 in Le Hamel, France. Under Australian Lt. Gen. John Monash, an Allied Army won the WWI Battle of Le Hamel in 1918. Ten companies of inexperienced U.S. soldiers of the newly-created American Expeditionary Force were attached to the battle-seasoned Australian Army for combat training. This was the first time American and Australian troops fought side by side, a brotherhood in arms that has continued since and is now in its 80th year.

OFFICIAL US NAVY PHOTO
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas J. Foley prepares for a backseat orientation ride in a U.S. Navy F-14 Tomcat launched from the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63).

PHOTO: PH2 DAVID C. DUNCAN, USN
The U.S. Navy's newest dock landing ship, the USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), approaches the WWII ship memorials in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii: the USS Arizona Memorial and the former battleship USS Missouri. The LSD USS Pearl Harbor commemorates the heroic actions at the site of the December 7, 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the U.S. into WWII.