U.S. Air Force ninth staff members have undergone an exercise as part of training to become eligible as a joint task force headquarters.

STAFFEX 18-2, a four-day exercise series, occurred Jan. 16 to 19 under the supervision of David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff, USAF said Tuesday.

The exercise’s first day was allotted for preparation, while the next two days were used for a joint planning process wherein teams developed analysis-based schemes on how to pursue given missions.

The final day was used for breakout sessions wherein teams executed strategies developed during the JPP.

Joint Enabling Capabilities Command members joined the event to provide guidance for the participants.

Another STAFFEX is scheduled to occur in March, and expected to involve JECC staff, systems and equipment for a more realistic approach.

By January 2019, after receiving JTF capability, the 9th Air Force staff is expected to serve as an option in support of Goldfein’s goal to provide a global response force that the chairman and the secretary of defense may access in times of crisis.

Craig Robin, senior research scientist for directed energy applications at the U.S. Army‘s Space and Missile Defense Command, has said that the command seeks ways to use high energy lasers to disrupt targets such as unmanned aircraft, rockets, artillery and mortar, C4ISRNET reported Monday.

Robin told the publication that there is “an overall effort” to integrate laser technology into the Army’s existing command and control architecture, even though there is no specific program focused on the initiative.

He added that the Army aims to use laser weapons to boost safety in the battlefield and engage targets “at the speed of light.”

Robin noted that a high energy laser could also become a source of intelligence since one of its components can serve as a telescope.

The U.S. Air Force has assembled a team to investigate “unexplained” physiologic events that some aircrew members have experienced in flights and identify methods to prevent such episodes.

The UPE Integration Team, led by Brig. Gen. Bobbi Jo Doorenbos, will explore ways to increase human performance for tactical aviation missions, the Air Force said Monday.

“As part of the integrated effort to address physiological events, the Air Force is providing more resources to understand UPEs, standardize response actions to such events and assess options for more robust aircrew training to recognize and respond to these events,” Doorenbos said.

Lt. Gen. Chris Nowland, deputy chief of staff for operations at the Air Force, said the service branch intends to share results of the UPE study with other military services and industry partners.

The Air Force trains aircraft operators on physiological symptom recognition and response as part of safe aircraft recovery operations.

The branch noted that physiological events can result health-related factors that affect flight operations such as hypoxia, disorientation, hypocapnia or hypercapnia.

The Defense Department has released a national defense strategy that seeks to address the “re-emergence of long-term strategic competition” the U.S. faces with countries such as Russia and China, Defense News reported Friday.

The document details the U.S. military’s three lines of effort as it works to broaden the competitive space and those include the need to increase the lethality of the Joint Force to rebuild military readiness; strengthen alliances; and the need to reform DoD’s business practices.

The report also states the Joint Force’s aim to deter aggression in the Middle East, Europe and the Indo-Pacific regions as well as the Pentagon’s plan to adopt a “rapid, iterative approach to capability development.”

Under the strategy, DoD will work to reduce acquisition risk and address technology obsolescence through realignment of incentives and reporting structures to accelerate capability delivery; expansion of the role of intelligence analysts and warfighters in the procurement process; and use of non-traditional suppliers.

“Prototyping and experimentation should be used prior to defining requirements and commercial off-the-shelf systems,” the document states.

“Platform electronics and software must be designed for routine replacement instead of static configurations that last more than a decade.”

The document came a month after President Donald Trump released a national security strategy that covers homeland defense, border security, military power, economic strength and trade policy.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to issue the national military strategy later this year, the report added.