David Berteau, CEO of the Professional Services Council, has said the Defense Department should prioritize recruiting for the new role of defense undersecretary for research and engineering as well as clarify the position’s scope of responsibilities, FCW reported Friday.

“It seems to me that if you want the top talent that [DOD] needs and this position is being created to attract, it would be helpful if you could define the boundaries and responsibilities and interfaces of that job with the rest of the department,” Berteau said.

DoD proposed on Tuesday to split the undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics role into two organizations in which an undersecretary will handle R&E functions and another one will oversee acquisition and sustainment work under a reorganization effort in compliance with the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act.

Berteau, formerly assistant defense secretary for logistics and materiel readiness, noted he thinks the Pentagon’s plan to place the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental under R&E “is a good way to integrate” hand-offs when it comes to technology development efforts.

He also cited the challenge associated with the AT&L reorganization.

“The real question is what’s the hand-off point from R&E to acquisition and sustainment, which is now under a different undersecretary,” Berteau added.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army‘s Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System team has showcased a ground surveillance and battle management aircraft during a Michigan National Guard-hosted exercise.

The 2017 Northern Strike gathered approximately 5,000 service members from across the U.S. and five coalition countries at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan to witness the capacity of the E-8C Joint STARS platform, the Defense Department said Friday.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Kenneth Billings, a mission crew commander with the Georgia Air National Guard, said the exercise has provided the Joint STARS team with opportunities to refine wartime approaches alongside joint and multinational allies.

E-8C was derived from the Boeing 707 series and built by Northrop Grumman.

The system is equipped with 22 radios, seven data links, two internet connections and a telephone system designed to help users offer wide-area joint airborne command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for combatant commanders worldwide.

Twenty-one personnel from the Georgia Air National Guard’s 116th Air Control Wing, active-duty 461st Air Control Wing and Army Joint STARS team compose the Joint STARS team.

The group provided battle management ISR and C2 data in support of the Northern Strike exercise.

Ryan McCarthy, former vice president of Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 sustainment program, has been confirmed as undersecretary of the U.S. Army.

The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to confirm McCarthy’s nomination, which was announced by the White House in June, the Army said Thursday.

McCarthy will succeed Karl Schneider and oversee the Army’s budget, business transformation, acquisition modernization and energy-efficiency initiatives.

During his confirmation hearing, McCarthy said he will prioritize Army readiness and capability modernization if confirmed as under secretary.

McCarthy previously served as a staff member at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a member of the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment during the Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that a review of the Defense Department‘s nuclear posture is underway to help identify options to maintain U.S. strategic deterrence, DoD News reported Thursday.

Selva told audience at a forum held Thursday at the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute the review will look into a range of measures such as conservative strategic approaches and radical new methods.

He added reviewers will offer recommendations to President Donald Trump on potential ways to maintain the nuclear triad, which includes bomber aircraft, intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles.

The replacement of the entire nuclear enterprise — including the B-52 bombers, Ohio-class submarines and Minuteman III ICBMs — would require the U.S. government to increase spending on nuclear deterrence from 3.5 percent of the defense budget to 6 percent, according to Selva.

Top U.S. Air Force leaders have established five new objectives in a move to help the military service address challenges in air and space missions.

The service branch said Wednesday its current leaders will prioritize efforts to restore personnel readiness, modernize the lethality of the Air Force, drive innovation, train new leaders and bolster alliances.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and Chief Master Sgt. Kaleth Wright unveiled their new priorities in a letter to the Total Force.

“Looking forward, our obligations to the country will never change,” they wrote.

“We will always lead and support the joint force in defending our homeland, owning the high ground and projecting power with our allies.”