The US Navy officially launched the USNS Charles Drew with a ceremonial crack of a champagne bottle smashing on the hull Sunday.

In this Jan. 8, 2005 file photo, U.S. Navy AW2 Maxwell Bjeule tries to restrain a surging crowd of survivors as they struggle to get food and other supplies being unloaded from a US Navy Sea Hawk helicopter during its continuing sortie to the tsunami-stricken town of Meulaboh, southeast of Banda Aceh, northwest Indonesia.

President Barack Obama is in "excellent health" and "fit for duty," the White House physician said Sunday after the 48-year-old commander in chief's first checkup since he took office.

The commander ofA Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific ordered the return of Pearl Harbor-based ships that sortied today.

U.S. military officials are deliberating how long American troops should stay in Haiti to tend to its earthquake-battered population, knowing that work remains but reluctant to take on much of the rebuilding that could commit the force to the region for years.