The Defense Department has granted a Center of Excellence certification to a U.S. Strategic Command organization that fosters missile defense training for service, joint and theater operations.

The Joint Ballistic Missile Defense Education and Training Center or JBTEC received CoE certification after a year of preparation, becoming the first ever joint CoE the U.S. Army said Tuesday.

Established in 2005, the center works to train warfighters from different services in planning, analyzing and jointly executing integrated air and missile defense strategies.

The Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense operates the newly certified center at Schriever Air Force Base.

The CoE certification recognizes the quality of the center’s services and expertise in the assigned field of joint missile defense training.

JBTEC annually caters to 4K students consisting of personnel from combatant commands, federal agencies and U.S. allies.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie have said the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments will release an integrated electronic health record system in an aim to share information between the two agencies.

Both department heads said in a statement published September 26 the agencies will work to store the medical information of U.S. warfighters, and their families, during and after military service.

The department heads said they plan to come up with a more streamlined and comprehensive EHR system that provides for unified decision-making and oversight functions; harmonized operations, data management and technology tools; and a single implementation schedule.

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have jointly established a board to study the issue that resulted in a three percent availability loss of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 17. The infrared detectors of the weather satellite’s Advanced Baseline Imager instrument did not maintain required operational temperatures under certain conditions during a postlaunch test, NASA said Tuesday.

David McGowan, chief engineer at the space agency’s Langley Research Center, will chair the board. Board members include lead NASA researchers Joel Lachter, Rich Slywczak, Hank Rotter and Julie Grantier.

GOES-17 is part of a series of satellites that work to provide weather forecasts and warnings. The satellite is slated to be operationally renamed the GOES West later this year.

The Department of Energy is investing a maximum of $28M in research, development and demonstration efforts aiming to support U.S. energy infrastructure cybersecurity.

The DOE said Monday its Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response will partner with industry to develop cyber threat mitigation, detection and prevention technologies.

“These awards will spur the next level of innovation needed to advance cyber resilience, ensuring that the nation’s critical energy infrastructure can withstand potential cyber attacks while also still keeping the lights on,” said Rick Perry, secretary of energy.

The 11 funded projects all support the department’s Multiyear Plan for Energy Sector Cybersecurity that aims to encourage partnerships across government and industry.

The full list of the funded projects can be accessed here.

United Technologies Research Center and GE Global Research are among the awardees under the funding.

The Defense Department has decided to withdraw its proposed rule to regulate payments to contractors based on performance, Defense News reported Monday.

“Recently, proposed amendments to the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) were prematurely released, absent full coordination,” Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan wrote in a statement obtained by the publication.

Shanahan said DoD will work with industry to draft an updated rule to enforce section 831 of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, said in a recent interview that the Pentagon plans to use performance payments as an incentive to contractors that meet the requirements under the proposed rule.

The report said the Professional Services Council, Aerospace Industries Association and the National Defense Industrial Association raised objections to the proposed policy.

DoD’s move came a week after Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) wrote a letter to Shanahan expressing concerns over the proposed rule.