Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama) and former Defense Intelligence Agency Mike Flynn are among the top candidates for president-elect Donald Trump’s appointee as defense secretary, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Leo Shane, Aaron Mehta and Joe Gould write that Trump, who will select personnel to serve under national security posts next year, received advice from both Sessions and Flynn during the new president-elect’s campaign.

The report noted that Trump has previously hinted at a defense job for Flynn despite the latter’s ineligibility to serve as head of the Pentagon due to his prior military service and a waiver from Congress could permit the former DIA chief to take over the defense secretary role.

Other potential candidates include Stephen Hadley, former national security adviser of George W. Bush, and Sen. James Talent (R-Missouri).

Military Times lists Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Alabama), Duncan Hunter (R-California) and Randy Forbes (R-Virginia) may be appointed for lower-level defense roles.

The Government Accountability Office has recommended the Defense Department provide Congress with information that will support the Pentagon’s claim on why the DoD cannot achieve budget neutrality.

A GAO report published Wednesday includes ideas for the development of a strategy to attain alternative reductions to appropriations as well as the identification of specific metrics for customer satisfaction, product quality and savings.

DoD said in a May 2016 report on commissaries and exchanges that the department cannot achieve budget neutrality but the report did not cover cost assumptions, estimates or other specific details on trade-offs or limitations that prevent budget neutrality.

GAO noted that DoD officials have projected the department to save $2 billion from fiscal years 2017 to 2021 but no strategies have been developed to help meet the estimated cost savings.

Auditor also found out that the DoD did not establish specific metrics to assess the three mandated benchmarks discussed on the report including customer satisfaction, product quality and patron savings.

The U.S. Air Force has selected 305 active-duty personnel to proceed with a selection process to identify the next enlisted batch that will attend remotely piloted aircraft training.

The service branch said Wednesday the Enlisted Remotely Piloted Aircraft Pilot Selection Board is part of an effort to boost the Air Force’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission.

Airmen that were selected for the next phase responded to the call for nominations in July and achieved qualifying scores for the Air Force Enlisted or Officer Pilot Qualifying Test and basic aviation skills test, the Air Force added.

The service branch also considered candidates’ flying hours, assignment limitation, availability codes and retainability.

The Air Force Personnel Center received more than 800 applications for the RPA pilot training which necessitated a phased approach that produced the initial list of potential board candidates.

The selection board will meet on Feb. 6-Feb. 9, 2017 and release results later that month.

The U.S. Navy has named its DDG 121 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer as USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. after the first African-American U.S. Marine Corps aviator and general officer.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the name during a ceremony held at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

Petersen was assigned on 350 combat missions during the Korean and Vietnam wars and was the first African-American to have commanded a fighter squadron, an air group and a major base.

“The courage and perseverance of Lt. Gen. Petersen throughout his distinguished and ground-breaking career make him especially deserving of this honor,” said Mabus.

USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. is currently under construction at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi and is scheduled to enter service by 2020.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are designed with offensive and defensive weapons systems such as the Flight IIA modification, AEGIS Baseline 9 Combat System and Integrated Air and Missile Defense platform to support a variety of operations and allow simultaneous air, surface and subsurface engagements.

The U.S. Navy‘s Fleet Readiness Center Southwest has acquired a Zeiss-built machine for $500,000 to help support accuracy in the manufacturing of aircraft parts.

The Navy said Tuesday the Coordinate Measuring Machine works to provide 0.001-inch manufacturing measurement precision and help measure manufactured parts ahead of installation.

FRCSW purchased CMM through the Naval Air Systems Command’s Capital Investment Program which aims to invest in new technology to aid efficiency, the Navy added.

Martha Hoffman, CIP project manager, said the project was awarded in April and completed in November ahead of a projected 12-month schedule.

Machinist Kevin Guittar said CMM runs approximately six times faster than its predecessor that was built in the 1990s.

Guittar added CMM is the manufacturing department’s third measuring machine and a fourth will arrive soon from the reverse engineering unit.

The new machine is designed to apply a computer-aided design and manufacturing software toolkit as well as adapt to future sensor and software requirements, the Navy noted.

Zeiss administered a week-long certification class to five personnel who will operate CMM, the Navy added.