Ben FitzGerald, a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been appointed director of the Defense Department‘s strategy and design office in a move slated to take effect Jan. 2.

DoD said Thursday FitzGerald will lead the reorganization of the Pentagon’s office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 mandates DoD to split up the responsibilities of the AT&L office into between an undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment; an undersecretary for research and engineering; and a chief management officer.

FitzGerald will serve for five years as a highly qualified expert, which refers to “individuals who possess uncommon, special knowledge, skills and experience in an occupational field, and judgment that is accorded authority and status by peers or the public,” DoD noted.

In his new role, FitzGerald will aim to identify if current AT&L functions should transition to R&E, A&S, another post within the office of the defense secretary, the military services or be eliminated altogether.

He previously served as senior fellow and director of the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security.

FitzGerald also worked as a managing director at consulting firm Noetic Group; a solutions specialist at IBM; and an account manager at Unisys.

The U.S. Air Force has announced two preferred Air National Guard bases to receive the F-35A conventional takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

The military branch said Thursday it expects the Truax Field base in Wisconsin and the Dannelly Field base in Alabama to begin accommodating F-35A jets in 2023.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, said the service branch will use aircraft currently stationed in the two installations to replace F-16s at other ANG facilities upon arrival of the fifth-generation fighter platform.

F-35A is built to eventually replace many of the Air Force’s fourth-generation aircraft.

The branch intends to operate both fourth- and fifth-generation fighters into the 2040s as part of efforts to address combatant commander needs, required training and scheduled deployments.

SecAF will hand down a final basing decision after an environmental analysis of the preferred F-35A locations is complete.

U.S. Air Force testers have completed weapons delivery accuracy flight tests on the F-35 Lightning II aircraft which evaluated the platform’s weapon system as well as the Block 3F software it uses to support lethal air-to-air and air-to-ground strike missions.

The service branch said Wednesday members of the 461st Flight Test Squadron and F-35 Integrated Test Force conducted the flight tests as part of the F-35 developmental test and evaluation effort.

Lt. Col. Tucker Hamilton, 461st FLTS commander and F-35 ITF director, said the F-35 platform performed how the service branch wanted it to and the aircraft completed various test missions throughout the WDA evaluation.

The ITF evaluated all three F-35 variants and integrated them with air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles such as the AIM-120, AIM-9X, Paveway IV laser-guided bomb, GBU-39 small diameter bomb, GBU-12, GBU-31 joint direct attack munition as well as the AGM-154 joint standoff weapon.

ITF conducts developmental flight tests on behalf of the Defense Department‘s F-35 Joint Program Office including mission effectiveness testing, enemy air defense suppression, maritime interdiction, offensive and defensive air-to-air combat testing activities.