The Pentagon and the Office of Personnel Management plan to establish a joint office in 2019 to handle all security clearance investigations for the defense community, Nextgov reported Wednesday. The partnership comes amid the growing backlog of security clearances at the Department of Defense that reportedly reached 725,000 in April.

The DoD will merge its Defense Security Service office with OPM’s National Background Investigations Bureau to consolidate background investigations and maintenance of the National Background Investigations Services system. The agencies plan to establish the office in October of next year and expect to employ up to 2,000 federal workers. 

Garry Reid, director for Defense Intelligence, said the DSS and the NBIB already started to strategize, particularly on how to use physical resources, such as real estate, computers and office supplies, as well as human resources.

“We are integrating two organizations into DSS while simultaneously automating and changing operational processes and procedures,” said DSS Director Dan Payne. “Everyone at this table recognizes these complexities and are resolute in ensuring it is done successfully.”

U.S. Air Force Space Command has assumed responsibility for the acquisition of satellite communications services in support of the Department of Defense and the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, AFSPC said Wednesday.

AFSPC commander will handle enterprise satcom operations, oversee the integrated delivery of satcom services and manage the procurement of almost all military and commercial satcom technologies.

The command will also have operational control of 70 support contractors and 36 civilian and military personnel working on commercial satcom efforts.

A formal transfer of personnel will take place in October 2019 ahead of a full operational capability authorization scheduled for October 2020.

The move comes as part of efforts to comply with the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.

The U.S. Air Force expects to install Boeing’s KC-46 refueling tanker aircraft at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas by the end of 2018, Kansas.com reported Thursday.

The service branch selected McConnell AFB for the first round of deliveries along with Pease Air National Guard Base in New Hampshire and Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma.

McConnell AFB will receive 18 tankers for the first increment and is slated to expand the fleet to 36.

The air base invested $267M for 16 construction projects in preparation for the KC-46 tankers, which are expected to replace the KC-135 aircraft housed in its two air refueling wings.

The first KC-46 tanker was initially scheduled for delivery to McConnell AFB in March 2017.

The departments of Energy and Homeland Security have started testing prototypes of a new tool designed to help medical responders monitor multiple patients and share information in real time during a mass casualty. 

The agencies are exploring the VitalTag Technology that uses multiple sensors to detect the vital signs of patients and share data to responders’ mobile devices. Medics could use the patient data to see those in need of urgent care, the DHS said Wednesday.

Ongoing tests of the tool focus on the accuracy of patient vitals. Existing VitalTag prototypes work to monitor blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, blood oxygen, shock index and single-lead electrocardiogram, among other metrics

The DHS said the devices appear able to transfer patient data in real time to laptops, phones and tablets at the disaster site, as well as ambulances and hospitals.

“An attractive feature of the VitalTag system, which allows all of this to happen, is its multi-platform user interface, which displays all the important information in neat, comprehensive, interactive tables,” the agency said. 

President Trump has nominated U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch Jr. for appointment as commander of Air Force Materiel Command, the Department of Defense said Wednesday.

Bunch is the military deputy of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

In his current position, Bunch oversees research and development, testing, production and modernization operations for Air Force programs reaching up to $32B every year.

He completed B-52 Stratofortress assignments and held leadership roles across the squadron, group and wing levels earlier in his Air Force career.

He also served as commander of the Air Force Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

The U.S. Marine Corps and Navy have announced plans to leverage commercial services, replace aging systems, accelerate ship and aircraft acquisition, build shipyard workforce and increase international partnerships to address recently found readiness issues.

Workforce shortfalls and gaps, ship maintenance delays and unavailable aircraft contributed to deployment challenges for the two military branches, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report posted Wednesday. 

John Pendleton, director of defense capabilities and management at GAO, said the Navy and Marines are also facing budgetary shortfalls and an aging and shrinking fleet of ships, submarines and aircraft. 

To address such issues, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said his service plans to implement several corrective actions such as:

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• Partnering with the private sector to maintain ships and aircraft
• Speeding up acquisition of new weapon systems and ships
• Increasing funding for maintenance by $1.1B 
• Partnering shipyards with the private sector 
• Increasing public shipyard workers from 34.9K to 36.7K

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Meanwhile, the Marine Corps plans to improve readiness by increasing investments in aviation, modernization, combat vehicles, close combat lethality equipment, cyber and ground equipment.

Both military branches also plan to strengthen alliances and attract new international partners through combined and joint exercises.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to establish a new council that will work to encourage investments in urban and economically distressed areas.

The secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the assistant to the president for domestic policy will respectively serve as chairman and vice chair of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, according to the executive order published Wednesday.

The policy directs the council to evaluate the measures each agency can implement to focus federal investments on “qualified opportunity zones” and other economically distressed areas and seek feedback from government officials and private-sector stakeholders on how to revitalize such zones.

The council will also coordinate interagency efforts to help private and public sector officials come up with economic growth strategies as well as recommend policies that seek to reduce administrative and regulatory burdens.

The council has 90 days to develop a work plan for the implementation of its function and mission, according to the EO.