The U.S. Army has announced the deployment of the second Security Force Assistance Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina scheduled for January 2018.

The particular SFAB is the second out of six specialized units trained to take part in advise-and-assist operations with allied forces and nations, the Army said Friday.

“It is my assessment, and the assessment of the secretary and the assessment of the Army staff, that we are likely to be involved in train, advise, and assist operations for many years to come,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army.

Fort Bragg was selected as the SFAB’s location due to the area’s open schedule for training, composition of qualified personnel and facility costs.

SFABs consist of 800 Army officers who are experienced in training and advising foreign military and security forces; and are trained to operate through the brigade combat team model.

SFAB soldiers undergo Military Advisor Training Academy programs to polish skills and knowledge in language, foreign weapons and joint fire observation; and will be armed with the most advanced military equipment available.

Army officials have begun developing policies for SFAB soldiers to receive promotion rates and boards, selection boards and special pay.

The Government Accountability Office has urged the Defense Department to establish priorities among objectives under the European Reassurance Initiative and provide comprehensive estimates of ERI sustainment costs.

GAO said in a report published Friday that DoD has not evaluated ERI initiatives against missions funded under the department’s base budget, which could lead to a lack of understanding of the relative importance of ERI activities that are financed using overseas contingency operations funds.

The U.S. government launched ERI in 2014 to show commitment to the security of European allies following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

DoD has extended ERI objectives from short-term support for allies and partners to the long-term deterrence of Russian aggression, and the department will have requested a total of about $4.5 billion for ERI’s posture enhancements through the end of fiscal year 2017, GAO noted.

The congressional watchdog also found that the U.S. European Command and military services have yet to fully estimate the long-term costs of equipment maintenance and construction under ERI.

The lack of comprehensive sustainment cost estimates limits DoD’s capacity to evaluate affordability and plan for future spending, GAO reported.

DoD also restricts Congress’ view into resources needed to achieve ERI objectives because the department’s ERI budget request does not include future costs, the report said.

GAO recommended DoD to prioritize ERI posture initiatives against base budget initiatives; create cost estimates for sustainment initiatives; and inform Congress on future costs.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has established a new office in San Francisco, California, as part of an effort to hire professionals who possess skills in the science, technology, engineering and math fields, Nextgov reported Friday.

The Outpost Silicon Valley office will support three new recruitment initiatives under NGA’s Data-Enabled Workforce strategy, which is designed to address the agency’s human capital gap.

Andy Brooks, chief data scientist at NGA, said at a Nextgov-sponsored event that NGA plans to recruit up to 100 full-time data scientists and analysts through the Data Corps initiative “to solve the big data problems within the agency.”

The strategy also includes the Developer Corps program that seeks to form an in-house software development team comprised of up to 200 full-time software engineers, developers and coders.

NGA also launched the Explorer program to hire about 50 technically-skilled individuals for one- to three-year terms.

“Explorers” will be assigned to various projects across NGA based on skillset and interests, and they may work on unclassified projects remotely if they pass an initial security vetting, the report noted.

Anthony Vinci, associate director for capabilities at NGA, said the agency is considering expansions into other technology hubs such as Austin, Boston and New York City.

Essye Miller, deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity and chief information security officer at the Defense Department, has assumed the position of DoD CIO on an acting basis and will continue to serve in her current role, FCW reported Friday.

She succeeds John Zangardi, who has been appointed by President Donald Trump as CIO for the Department of Homeland Security.

In her new capacity, Miller will be Defense Secretary James Mattis’ primary adviser for information technology, information assurance, non-intelligence space systems, critical satellite communications and telecommunications, among others.

She will also work to coordinate cybersecurity standards, policies and procedures with other federal agencies and partners.

Miller previously served as cybersecurity director for the U.S. Army CIO/G-6 and as senior information assurance officer at the service branch.

She also held various leadership positions at the U.S. Air Force such as CIO and information management director at the service branch’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.