The Defense Department seeks Office of Management and Budget approval DoD’s plan to collect information as part of an ongoing defense industrial base review.

DoD said Thursday in a Federal Register notice that the proposed survey is urgent and will help the department identify, evaluate and issue recommendations to boost the defense industrial base.

President Donald Trump called for a cross-government review of U.S. companies’ capacity to support the defense industrial base through an executive order issued July.

DoD plans to collect voluntary responses from 300 individuals within businesses and other for-profit organizations.

The department will accept comments on the proposed information collection effort through Nov. 27.

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Lisa Franchetti, chief of staff at the Joint Staff’s J-5 directorate, has been nominated to serve as commander of the Sixth Fleet, Task Force Six and Striking and Support Forces NATO.

The Defense Department said Tuesday Franchetti was also nominated as deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa as well as Joint Force Maritime Component commander in Europe.

She completed at-sea assignments aboard USS Shenandoah, USS Monongahela, USS Moosbrugger, Destroyer Squadron 2, USS Stout and the USS George Washington Strike Group.

Franchetti also held various ashore assignments with the Naval Reserve Center Central Point in Oregon, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, U.S. Naval Academy, Joint Staff J-7, Navy staff and U.S. Navy Forces Korea.

The 32-year Navy veteran also commanded USS Ross and embarked onboard USS John C. Stennis, USS George Washington, USS Theodore Roosevelt, USNS Mercy, Carrier Strike Group 9 and CSG-15.

U.S. Army soldiers have tested a new Multi-Functional Video Display system for the Medium Mine Protected Vehicle Type II platform designed to provide commanders and crew members with complete visibility around the vehicle and detect potential explosives.

The service branch said Friday soldiers from the 509th Engineer Company, 5th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade evaluated the MVD monitors and gathered data that can help the Army Operational Test Command integrate the displays on MMPV Type II vehicles.

Route clearance soldiers and operational testers performed assessments on the MVD systems at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

“We are also collecting data on the reliability, availability, and maintainability of the MVD, so that we can identify any issues causing malfunctions of hardware failure now, rather than after fielding of the equipment,” said Heidi Watts, chief of the USAOTC maneuver support test division.

“The importance of collecting data on the MVD is to verify the usability of the MVD by Soldiers in an operational context … We want to ensure that any issues the Soldiers have with the system are discovered now,” added Maj. Michael Fleischmann, operational research and systems analyst and data project manager for the test.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has told a Senate committee that Authorizations for Use of Military Force enacted in 2001 and 2002 have remained “sound” bases for ongoing U.S. military missions to stop terrorism threats worldwide, DoD News reported Monday.

Mattis discussed the continuing utilization of the AUMFs during his testimony Monday  before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He urged lawmakers to retain the Defense Department‘s authorities to mitigate threats from al-Qaida, Taliban and Islamic State terrorist groups.

“Any new Congressional expression of unity, whether or not an AUMF, would present a strong statement to the world of America’s determination,” said Mattis.

The defense secretary told committee members he believes Congress should not repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMFs or restrict the timeline and geographical scope of military force authorizations.

The U.S. government has agreed to sell additional weapons, ramp up missile development and deploy nuclear weapons in South Korea to protect against regional threats, Defense News reported Sunday.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited South Korea last week to discuss the country’s requests to boost its artillery and missile defense.

The defense leaders also talked about ways to implement President Donald Trump’s agreement with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to send more U.S. bomber, submarine and aircraft carriers to the region in response to North Korea’s missile tests, the report said.

Song Young-Moo, South Korea’s defense minister, said the meetings focused on technical plans to expand the rotational deployment of U.S. military assets.

Song added that both parties agreed to expand the acquisition of advanced technology for the South Korean military and to remove payload limits on missile warheads, which South Korea has complied with since 1979 in exchange for U.S. military assistance.

The Government Accountability Office has found that the Department of Homeland Security performs risk assessments for critical infrastructure across the three sectors – nuclear reactors, materials and waste; critical manufacturing; and transportation systems – that GAO evaluated.

GAO said in a report published Monday that DHS incorporates the three risk elements into its assessments and those include threats, vulnerabilities and consequences.

The report showed that risk assessments work to help critical infrastructure operators and owners carry out measures to mitigate risks and build up security posture.

Six representatives from the private sector cited threat data as the most useful risk information since it helps facilitate response to security risks among critical infrastructure owners.

The congressional watchdog also found that DHS uses assessment results to guide its strategic planning, Quadrennial Homeland Security Review and outreach efforts for infrastructure operators.

DHS officials noted that they use risk data following an incident to expedite the identification and prioritization of critical infrastructure operators and owners in order to guide their recovery assistance and response outreach initiatives.

The U.S. Strategic Command has kicked off its annual exercise for Stracom personnel to familiarize themselves with various mission areas and increase joint operational readiness.

Stratcom said Friday it will test the preparedness of the command’s headquarters staff, components and subordinate units in responding to unexpected situations during the Global Thunder 2018 event’s command-and-control and field training activities.

U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, commander of Stratcom, said the exercise works to integrate the command’s strategic capabilities for multiple domains.

The command conducts strategic deterrence, cyber, space, electronic warfare, strike, intelligence and missile defense missions worldwide as part of its responsibilities under the Defense Department‘s Unified Command Plan.