U.S. Navy Vice Adm. John Aquilino has been nominated by President Donald Trump for assignment as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and for promotion to the rank of admiral.

Aquilino currently serves as the commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, the Fifth Fleet and the Combined Maritime Forces in Bahrain, the Defense Department said Friday.

He served in multiple fighter squadrons that flew F-14 A/B Tomcat and F-18 C/E/F Hornet aircraft, as well as led the VF-11 Red Rippers, Carrier Air Wing 2 and Carrier Strike Group 2.

His assignments ashore include time as adversary instructor pilot for the A-4, F-5 and F-16N aircraft; operations officer at the Strike Weapons and Tactics School, Atlantic; and special assistant for weapons systems and advanced development at the Office of the Legislative Affairs for the Secretary of Defense.

He also served as director of strategy and policy for the U.S. Joint Forces Command; deputy director for the Joint Force Coordinator of the Joint Staff; commander of CSG-2l; director of maritime operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet; and deputy chief of naval operations for operations, plans and strategy.

A group of U.S. Army leaders appeared before a Senate Armed Services Committee subpanel Wednesday to testify that the service branch has begun modernization efforts and needs funding to support such initiatives amid threats posed by countries such as Russia and China, Stars and Stripes reported Wednesday.

“The Army has reached an inflection point,” Lt. Gen. John Murray, deputy chief of staff at the Army, told lawmakers.

“We can no longer afford to choose between near-term readiness and modernization.”

Army leaders said the service’s modernization plan will focus on six areas that include the need to build up communication networks; restoration of long-range precision fire systems; development of next-generation combat vehicles; soldier lethality; air and missile defense platforms restoration; and introduction of new aircraft designs.

Murray said the military branch has started to form a new futures and modernization command that is expected to reach initial operational capability by June or July and full operational capability by next year.

The service leaders’ testimony coincided with the Senate’s announcement on Wednesday that they struck a bipartisan agreement that would allocate a defense budget of $700 billion in fiscal year 2018 and $716 billion for FY 2019.

Vice President Mike Pence has said the U.S. intends to remain vigilant and work with its Indo-Pacific allies to heighten pressure on North Korea to abandon the latter country’s nuclear weapon development efforts, DoD News reported Thursday.

He told audience during a speech Wednesday at Yokota Air Base in Japan that North Korean threats have prompted the U.S. to “act with vigilance.”

“Together with our allies and partners, we will continue to strive to peacefully dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program and alleviate the suffering of its people,” Pence added.

He noted that the U.S. will be prepared to defend its homeland and respond to any deployment of conventional or nuclear weapons.

“We will protect our people, we will defend our freedom, and together we will forge a future of security, prosperity and peace for both of our nations for generations to come.”

Christopher Krebs, acting undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security‘s National Protection and Programs Directorate, has been nominated by President Donald Trump to lead NPPD on a full-time basis.

He concurrently serves as assistant secretary in the Office of Infrastructure Protection and leads NPPD’s efforts to prevent complex mass attacks, secure high-risk chemicals and increase resilience of cyber and physical infrastructure across the U.S., the White House said Thursday.

Rep. Jim Langevin (D-Rhode Island) said in a statement published Wednesday that Krebs’ nomination reflects an urgency to reform NPPD.

“I hope the Senate will move quickly to take up the House-passed bill that will allow the organization to continue to evolve,” Langevin added.

Krebs joined the department in March of last year as senior counselor who advised the Homeland Security secretary on matters related to critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity and national resilience.

Before DHS, he served as director of cybersecurity policy within Microsoft‘s U.S. government affairs team, a principal of Obsidian Analysis and a vice president of Dutko.