The Obama administration will grant the Joint Special Operations Command with expanded power to plan, track and launch potential attacks on terrorist organizations worldwide, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Dan Lamothe write the White House plans to transform JSOC into a new multiagency intelligence and action force that will be called the Counter-External Operations Task Force and defend assets against terrorist networks.

The task force will also provide advice, intelligence and strike recommendations to militaries and security forces as well as perform joint operations with traditional Western allies, according to the report.

The Post noted the new group will report to the Defense Department via the U.S. Special Operations Command, a change that Gibbons-Neff and Lamothe said will pave the way for a hybrid command system that can help boost the speed of coordination.

Maj. Gen. John Charlton, formerly vice director for joint force development at the Joint Staff, has been appointed commanding general of the U.S. Army‘s Test and Evaluation Command.

Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley announced Charlton’s appointment in a Defense Department release published Friday.

Charlton will lead the command that conduct experiments, developmental tests, independent operational analysis, evaluations and assessments to collect data for military commanders and decision makers.

He served as the platoon leader and company executive officer in the 7th Infantry Division and 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment before he was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis in Washington, where he participated in S3 operations and became company commander and ranger plans officer of G3, I Corps.

He also previously worked an observer/controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk in Louisiana, aide-de-camp to the commanding general and the operations officer at Fifth U.S. Army at Fort Sam in Texas and U.N. Mission in Haiti.

Charlton’s overseas assignments include roles as brigade executive Officer for 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division in Germany; head of 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry in Kuwait; and deputy commander of Regional Command-East, International Security Assistance Force Joint Command in Afghanistan

He led the Brigade Modernization Command at Fort Bliss before he was appointed vice director of J7.

His personal decorations include a Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster and Joint Service Commendation Medal.

K.T. McFarland, former Fox News national security analyst, has been named deputy national security adviser under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, the transition team said Friday.

McFarland held national security roles under the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan.

She also served as an aide to Henry Kissinger on the National Security Council.

McFarland confirmed her new role to Fox News and the network subsequently announced it terminated her contributor contract with the media outlet.

Her appointment came in the same week Trump selected Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, to serve as national security adviser.

Brig. Gen. Maria Gervais, Combined Arms Center – Training deputy commanding general, has said the U.S. Army developed a new synthetic training environment designed to help forces simulate operations in urban environments, C4ISR & Networks reported Wednesday.

Henry Kenyon writes Gervais noted at the annual Association of the U.S. Army meeting in Washington that the STE will offer multi-echelon training that can be optimized for human performance.

Gervais said STE creates an immersive environment that will help troops familiarize themselves with an operational environment prior to deployment as well as integrate mission data and site reports from deployed forces for a focused training experience.

She added that STE looks to address limitations of traditional simulator technology and utilize current simulators that could work well for specific types of training.

Trae Stephens, a principal at Peter Thiel’s venture capital fund Founders Fund, has joined the transition team of President-elect Donald Trump for the Defense Department, Space News reported Friday.

Jeff Foust writes Stephens previously worked for Palantir Technologies, a data analytics firm part of Founders Fund’s portfolio.

He will be assigned to the landing team tasked to oversee transition at the Pentagon along with nine other members of the transition team, according to the report.

Space News reports a 10th member was added to the team on Nov. 21.

Thiel co-founded Founders Fund in 2005 and the fund invested $20 million in SpaceX in July 2008 before funding rounds Google and Fidelity conducted in November 2010 and January 2015 to support the Elon Musk-owned launch services company, Foust reports.

The U.S. and western allies have called on Iran to reduce its enriched uranium stockpile as part of the 2015 nuclear accord, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Laurence Norman writes western officials said plans to reduce Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile could prevent conflicts between U.S. and Iran over the implementation of the nuclear deal once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Iran, U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China and Germany signed the pact in 2015.

Iranian officials have discussed the U.S. government’s plans to extend economic sanctions against Iran for another decade which U.S. representatives approved this week, Norman reported.

The nuclear deal requires Iran to cap its enriched uranium stockpile at 661 pounds over the next 15 years and limit heavy water stockpile at 143.3 tons.