U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Alan Lynn, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency, has said he believes the current DISA structure better supports clients because of the agency’s mission partner engagement model.

The retiring DISA director also credited the designation of responsibilities to individuals for each focus areas including business and development, operations and resource management as a factor in the development of the agency, the agency said Monday.

“I think [from when I first served at DISA to now] we have a much sharper focus on the customer … The agency wasn’t designed back then to support customers as well as it is now,” said Lynn.

“DISA is leaning forward and has put a mission engagement person in every mission partner organization,” he added.

He talked about three project he was proud to have been part of including the development of the DISA civilian workforce, the transformation of the Defense Department‘s mobility capacities and the creation of the Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network.

DISA noted Lynn will retire from active duty following a 38-year career in service on Feb. 2.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Nancy Norton will succeed Lynn for the DISA directorship role and command of the JFHQ-DODIN.

Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has called on Defense Department personnel to read and “internalize” the U.S. military’s new defense strategy, which was partially unveiled on Jan. 19, DoD News reported Monday.

Shanahan said the more than two million employees of DoD should understand the new National Defense Strategy to help boost the lethality of the joint force, reinforce existing alliances and create new partnerships.

He added that DoD is creating its fiscal year 2019 budget based on the strategy’s framework.

The National Defense Strategy would also serve as the foundation for DoD’s initiatives in FY 2020, according to Shanahan.

The deputy defense secretary noted that the strategy prioritizes investments in people in an effort to achieve “greater will and greater jointness.”

The Senate has confirmed Rickey Dale James, a manager at family farming business A.C. Riley Cotton Company, as assistant secretary of the U.S. Army for civil works and head of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Northern Kentucky Tribune reported Monday.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said James will help address water infrastructure needs across U.S. in his new role.

James has served on the Mississippi River Commission for 36 years beginning December 1981.

He was a member of the board of directors of the U.S. Bank of Sikeston in Missouri and the New Madrid County Board of Education.

James has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky.

Brig. Gen. Michael Schmidt, program executive officer for fighters and bombers at the U.S. Air Force, has been assigned to a new role as the service branch’s PEO for command, control, communications, intelligence and networks, the Defense Department announced Monday.

Schmidt has led efforts to develop, field, modernize, produce and sustain the Air Force’s bomber and fighter portfolio since April of last year.

His military career also includes various positions at the Special Operations Command,  Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, 696th Armament Systems Squadron and the Office of Air Force Legislative Liaison.

He also served as engineer and manager for the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System, Joint Strategic Target Attack Radar System and F-22 programs.

The Air Force appointed Col. Heath Collins, formerly senior materiel leader and system program manager for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent Systems Program Office at the Air Force‘s Nuclear Weapons Center, to succeed Schmidt as PEO for bombers and fighters.

The Trump administration has decided to delay the enforcement of new sanctions on Russia despite the passage of a law in 2017 that seeks to penalize the country for its interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections, Reuters reported Monday.

“Today, we have informed Congress that this legislation and its implementation are deterring Russian defense sales,” Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said in a statement.

“Since the enactment of the … legislation, we estimate that foreign governments have abandoned planned or announced purchases of several billion dollars in Russian defense acquisitions,” she added.

President Donald Trump signed in August 2017 the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.

The measure established a Monday deadline for the White House to release a report that outlines the potential consequences of U.S. sanctions on Russia as well as name individuals and entities that have ties to Russian intelligence and defense agencies.

“From that perspective, if the law is working, sanctions on specific entities or individuals will not need to be imposed because the legislation is, in fact, serving as a deterrent,” Nauert noted in her statement.

U.S. Navy Rear. Adm. Tom Druggan, commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, has been appointed director of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System program at the Missile Defense Agency, the Defense Department said Monday.

Druggan has supervised more than 17,000 engineers, scientists, technicians and support personnel across eight NSWC divisions in his more recent capacity.

He also performed duties of the DoD executive manager for military explosive ordnance disposal technology and training.

Previously, Druggan was a commanding officer and commissioning combat systems officer of the USS O’Kane Aegis ballistic missile defense destroyer, executive officer of USS Lassen, combat systems officer of USS Elliot and anti-submarine warfare officer of the USS Callaghan.

He also served as a program manager for Aegis combat systems in the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems, program manager for In-Service Aegis Fleet Readiness, special assistant to the chief of naval operations, special assistant to the vice chief of naval operations and founding member of the Navy Operations Group Deep Blue.

Pamela Powers, a more than 28-year U.S. Air Force veteran, has been appointed to the Senior Executive Service and assigned as senior adviser to the undersecretary for personnel and readiness at the Defense Department.

The retired Air Force colonel previously served as mobilization assistant to the the service branch’s assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs, DoD said Monday.

Powers, who began her military service in 1989, holds more than two decades of active duty and reserve experience in the communications, strategic planning and programming, legislation, policy, executive support and operational areas.

She also served as DoD Congressional Fellow within the Office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and provided advice to the Air Force secretary and chief of staff on policy matters.

Before she assumed her position at SAF/MR, Powers was the executive director of the Air Reserve Forces Policy Committee at the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Reserve Affairs and Airman Readiness.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from the Air Force Academy and a master’s degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College.