The Eisenhower carrier battle group and the Wasp amphibious readiness group sailed from Norfolk on 1 Dec for training. They will see duty in the Mediterranean Sea and possibly the Persian Gulf starting in February. Due to the continued presence of protesters at the Vieques naval gunnery range near Puerto Rico, the ships were forced to head for their deployment rated C-3 in combat readiness rather than the normal C-1 because they could not practice naval gunnery against shore targets.--Stephen V Cole

The Pentagon is guarded by 200 policemen of the Defense Protective Service. They are the lowest-paid policemen in the Capital area, and when the Pentagon rejected a request by the DPS for a 15% pay increase, more than 70 of the 200 applied for jobs with nearby police forces (desperate for experienced policemen) and made these applications known to the brass. The police union is demanding that the Pentagon pony up juicy "retention bonuses" as a temporary pay increase until a permanent pay hike can be implemented, but the Pentagon says that this is not a simple matter under federal rules.--Stephen V Cole