Beth McGrath, former deputy chief management officer at the Defense Department, told Nextgov in an interview published Tuesday that Congress’ decision to provide the new CMO role with authority over information technology management decisions makes sense as DoD works to reform its business operations.

“Over time, with the increased focus from Congress and the department on how do we optimize the business operations, so much of it, especially now, is driven by IT,” said McGrath, who is now managing director of Deloitte’s federal practice.

“Over time, the legislation has brought together business performance and IT to say, ‘You can’t think about them separately’ because business should be—and is—IT-enabled, then we really need to think about how we’re driving the business to include the IT aspect,” she added.

Her statements came after President Donald Trump announced plans to nominate John Gibson, DoD’s current DCMO, as the agency’s CMO.

U.S. aircraft and airmen have arrived in Afghanistan in support of the U.S. Air Force and Afghan national defense and security force’s efforts to eliminate Taliban militant group forces in the region.

The U.S. Air Forces Central Command said Tuesday the A-10C Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft squadron will help boost close air support and precision strike capacities for counter-terrorism missions.

Additional aircraft will be placed at the Kandahar Airfield including MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft and HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters to support operations including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance as well as personnel recovery and search and rescue missions.

“In the coming weeks, the A-10’s operations will be integrated into our combined U.S. and Afghan air campaign to deliver destructive precision firepower,” said Brig. Gen. Lance Bunch, chief of the Air Force’s future operations branch.

The A-10s will launch strike missions against Taliban forces alongside F-22, F-16, B-52, MQ-9 and U.S. Navy F-18 aircraft to destroy adversary narcotics production facilities and other revenue streams.

The report noted the Afghan air force will also increase its aircraft fleet within the next seven years through the addition of the AC-208 attack aircraft, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, A-29 attack aircraft and MD-530 attack helicopters.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has said the country will establish an embassy in Jerusalem, Israel before 2020, years earlier than what was previously predicted, National Republic Radio reported Monday.

Pence announced the decision to establish a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem during a speech before the Israeli parliament known as the Knesset.

U.S. President Donald Trump previously announced the country recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and will look to establish a new embassy in the city.

Rex Tillerson, U.S. State Secretary, predicted in December the establishment of an embassy in Jerusalem would take at least three years and senior White House leaders noted the current embassy cannot be transferred to an existing facility in the city.

Israeli lawmakers applauded the decision to establish a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, but Israeli Arab lawmakers and Palestinian leaders lambasted the decision which impacts a long-running conflict regarding control of the city.

The current U.S. embassy resides in Tel Aviv.

Pence also said the U.S. would support a two-state approach which covers the establishment of an independent Palestine beside the state of Israel.

Rear Adm. Sara Joyner, head of the U.S. Navy‘s Physiological Episode Action Team, will be assigned as director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s manpower and personnel directorate, or J1, the Defense Department announced Tuesday.

Joyner leads a Navy team tasked to examine occurrences of physiological episodes among naval aircraft pilots and coordinate with technical professionals to explore PE mitigation strategies.

She became a naval aviator in 1991 and went on to serve in various leadership positions in the Navy, including roles as commanding officer of the Super Hornet Strike Fighter Squadron; commander of the Carrier Air Wing 3; and director of the Navy Senate Liaison within the Office of Legislative Affairs.

The J1 directorate advises and supports the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters related to manpower and personnel.

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.