Brig. Gen. Patrick Doherty, former commander of the 82nd Training Wing at the Air Education and Training Command, has been appointed to lead AETC’s 19th Air Force unit, the Defense Department announced Friday.

He will lead the organization that trains more than 30,000 U.S. and allied aircrews, air battle managers, remotely piloted aircraft crews and weapons directors each year.

Doherty joined the U.S. Air Force in 1987 and previously held various leadership roles within the Air Force Personnel Command, 4th Fighter Wing, 335th Fighter Squadron and U.S. Forces Korea.

He has recorded more than 3,000 flight hours as a command pilot of F-15E, T-38A and B-52G/H aircraft.

He is a recipient of the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Combat Action Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award and the Meritorious Unit Award.

U.S. Army researchers are working develop new portable power technologies that can offer sufficient amounts of energy for extended periods and do not require added size and weight, C4ISR and Networks reported Friday.

John Edwards and Eve Keiser write Ashley Ruth, a chemical engineer at the Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center’s command, power and integration directorate, noted the service branch considers the use of two specific battery models including primary and rechargeable battery technology.

“We want to see improved safety, lower costs, more power, more energy and expanded operating temperature ranges, all while being as small and lightweight as possible,” said Ruth.

“The harsh temperatures and possibility of projectile interaction is a reality for military applications, so we must develop power equipment that can handle extreme conditions without endangering the soldier.”

Army troops currently use the Conformal Wearable Battery technology that supplies centralized power to multiple C4ISR devices, such as the Nett Warrior situational awareness system, via a battery integrated into soldiers’ body armor.

Defense Secretary James Mattis has called for separate assessments of Boeing’s Air Force One aircraft replacement program and the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 fighter aircraft after President Donald Trump raised concerns about the programs’ costs, Bloomberg reported Saturday.

Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the Defense Department, said in a statement the reviews seek to “inform programmatic and budgetary decisions, recognizing the critical importance of each of these acquisition programs” and should start immediately, Nafeesa Syeed, Anthony Capaccio and Rick Clough write.

“We have been responsive in providing information to the Trump administration and we look forward to continuing that dialogue as this process moves forward,” Todd Blecher, a spokesman for Boeing, told Bloomberg in a phone interview.

Mattis said in a directive the deputy defense secretary will be responsible for the F-35 review that aims to identify ways on how to cut the fighter jet’s cost as well as compare the aircraft with Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet jet’s operational capabilities to determine whether the latter could be updated to serve as an alternative to the Navy’s F-35 version, Bloomberg reports.

The review of the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program aims to evaluate areas that could be targeted for cost-reduction efforts such as aircraft power generation, communications platforms, cooling systems and autonomous operations, according to a report by Rebecca Kheel for The Hill.

The Government Accountability Office said in a March 2016 report the procurement of two new Air Force One planes, which are expected to be operational by 2023, could reach approximately $3.2 billion in total cost, the report added.

President Donald Trump has instructed Defense Secretary James Mattis to perform a 30-day review of the U.S. military’s readiness in the war against the Islamic State militant group, the Washington Post reported Friday.

Dan Lamothe writes Trump also asked Mattis to create a plan to boost readiness by fiscal year 2019 within 60 days from the issuance of the executive order.

The report said the plan will cover strategies to address maintenance backlogs, training range availability, manpower shortages and time management related to military training.

The order also calls for reviews of the Defense Department‘s nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile defense.

Lamothe reported the president wants DoD to evaluate operations against unspecified near-peer competitors.

Trump proposed to grow U.S. Army troops to 540,000; expand the U.S. Navy‘s fleet size to 350 ships; increase the U.S. Marine Corps‘ infantry battalions from 24 to 36; and add approximately 100 U.S. Air Force fighter or attack aircraft during the presidential campaign.

Brig. Gen. Dirk Smith, former director of air and cyberspace operations at the Pacific Air Forces headquarters, has been appointed deputy commander of operations and intelligence for the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve within the U.S. Central Command.

The Defense Department said Thursday Smith will also take helm as commander of Air Combat Command‘s 9th Air Expeditionary Task Force-Levant based in Southwest Asia.

Smith has been based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii since his assignment to head PACAF’s air, space and cyber readiness efforts in June 2015.

He is a command pilot with more than 2,800 logged hours flying the F-15C and F-22A aircraft.

He has held multiple leadership roles throughout his military career, including assignments with Pacific Command, the 609th Air and Space Operations Center, North American Aerospace Defense Command, U.S. Northern Command and the Force Application Functional Capability Board.

The brigadier general has also received various awards such as the Bronze Star, Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award.

His current assignment calls for him to support Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve in its efforts to defeat the Islamic State militant group in the Combined Joint Operations Area and help the coalition perform governmental actions that will support regional stability.

The Defense Department collected nearly $14 million for a federal workplace campaign in 2016, the biggest agency contributor of the past year’s campaign, DoD News reported Thursday.

Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work said at a Pentagon awards ceremony that DoD accounted for 40 percent of total federal agency contributions to the 2016 Combined Federal Campaign, Terri Moon Cronk wrote.

“CFC works at every single base, every single station all around the world, and they really, really helped us,” said Work.

DoD exceeded its $9 million goal by more than $5 million and overseas CFC personnel raised $4.7 million of the department’s overall contributions, Cronk reported.

CFC is an annual charity campaign that collects pledges from federal civilian, postal and military donors to support non-profit organizations that provide health and human services worldwide.

The U.S. Navy plans to deploy a 150-kilowatt laser weapon system that can be mounted on destroyers and carriers to eliminate potential threats such as unmanned aerial systems, Scout reported Tuesday.

Michael Fabey and Kris Osborn write Northrop Grumman currently works with the Office of Naval Research on the development of a new ship-board laser weapon designed to target  incoming small boats, aircraft, drones, ships and missiles.

The report said Northrop will design, integrate, produce and support shipboard testing of the 150-kilowatt-class solid state laser weapon system and DRS Technologies‘ power and control business line will create a specialized energy source for laser weapons for demonstration in 2018.

Donald Klick, director of business development at DRS’ power and control technologies unit, noted the energy magazine may also be used as a candidate for other U.S. military units such as the Air Force Special Forces.

“Laser weapons provide deep magazines, low cost per shot, and precision engagement capabilities with variable effects that range from dazzling to structural defeat against asymmetric threats that are facing the U.S. Naval force,” Tom Beutner, director of ONR’s air warfare and weapons division, told the publication.

The Navy has used the Kratos Defense & Security Solutions-built Laser Weapons System aboard USS Ponce  for targeting and training exercises.

The Defense Department will prioritize employee performance as the primary retention factor for civilian personnel when reduction in force becomes necessary under DoD’s revised RIF policies.

DoD said Thursday it will rank civilian personnel based on assessed performance followed by performance rating of record, tenure group, performance average score, veteran’s preference and DoD Service Computation Date-RIF.

The current governmentwide “order of retention” prioritizes tenure over veteran’s preference, length of service and performance.

The new procedures align with the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act and are consistent with the Defense Performance and Management Appraisal Program, the department said.

DPMAP is an enterprise-wide performance management program that aims to promote a results-oriented performance culture.

DoD also developed methods to assess the “rating of record” of personnel that are not covered by DPMAP.

The department said it will consider actions to address the size of reductions such as the use of Voluntary Early Retirement Authority, Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment, hiring freezes and the termination of temporary appointments, among other options.