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.

The U.S. Marine Corps has established a rapid capabilities office at the service branch’s warfighting laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, in an effort to inform future investment plans and force requirements, C4ISR and Networks reported Monday.

Mark Pomerleau writes the Marine Corps built the office to accelerate prototyping, demonstration, experimentation and prototyping of new technology platforms.

“The RCO will lead and build collaborative partnerships with a variety of organizations in the joint, naval, Marine Corps and commercial sectors to maximize resources and to provide venues to rapidly conduct operational assessments of relevant capability prototypes,” Masco Settles, deputy director of the RCO, told C4ISRNET in an email.

The report said the Marine Corps Systems Command, Defense Department‘s Strategic Capabilities Office, Defense Innovation Unit-Experimental, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Marine Corps Special Operations Command will provide assistance to the new RCO.

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work and Harriett Baldwin, U.K. minister for defense procurement, have signed an agreement that aims to strengthen the U.S.-U.K. defense partnership and collaboration in P-8A Poseidon aircraft operations.

The Defense Department said Wednesday the two countries will seek opportunities to share logistics and support bases for the P-8A maritime patrol aircraft.

“This cooperation agreement ensures and deepens our interoperability and maritime patrol capabilities,” Work said.

“Together, the U.S. and U.K. will continue to deter regional threats and maintain a robust military posture.”

Baldwin noted the declaration serves to drive the countries’ efforts to establish mutual security in the North Atlantic region.

The State Department approved the U.K.’s request to procure nine Boeing-built P-8A aircraft through a potential $3.2 billion foreign military sales deal in March 2016.

DoD said the P-8A purchase is part of the U.K.’s 2015 Strategic Defense and Security Review that aims to build on the country’s surveillance, anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, intelligence gathering and search-and-rescue operations.

A British air force base in Scotland will host the aircraft, with the first delivery set in 2019.