U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning has discussed the role of the service branch in joint warfighting efforts during his visit to Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia.

“We are a joint force now,” Fanning told attendees of the Army Training and Doctrine Command Commanders’ forum during his keynote speech.

“We rely on the Air Force. We rely on the Navy, but they all definitely rely on us.”

“Where that joint fight comes together in so many ways is on the ground with the Army.”

The Army said Wednesday that Fanning offered guidance for TRADOC personnel on how to carry out their functions and discussed the combination of medical capabilities as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and the service branch’s audit readiness requirement for fiscal 2017.

He also mentioned efforts to address sexual assault issues and the association of behavioral health with post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide prevention.

Fanning also met with the military branch’s divers and ship crew members during his visit to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) Third Port at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

The U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island has opened a new facility that will focus on studying Russia’s increasing role in the global maritime environment.

The Russia Maritime Studies Institute will examine Russian maritime strategies and operations for the U.S. Navy as well as develop and execute a research agenda through independent and collaborative scholarly projects, the service branch said Wednesday

“RMSI’s goals are to inform the Navy’s and our NATO partners’ decision making with regard to Russian maritime issues, provide analysis that supports U.S. planning and engagement efforts and develop new knowledge that contributes to scholarship,” said Michael Petersen, RMSI founding director.

The institute seeks to use connections across the government and academia to conduct research on Russian naval policy, strategy, naval operations, shipbuilding, international laws and other topics.

The Navy added that RMSI will share its research data with the service branch, NATO allies and academic organizations.

President Barack Obama has set the next military pay raise at 1.6 percent for 2017 which will take effect on Jan. 1, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Leo Shane writes Obama wrote a letter to Congress to request the pay hike that represents an increase from the 1.3 percent move in 2016.

The 1.6 percent pay raise will provide an additional $400 per year for most junior enlisted troops while mid-career officers will receive approximately $1,500 in annual pay boost, Shane reported.

Obama wrote economic conditions and budget constraints affected the military pay raise, the publication stated.

The U.S. Navy and G-W Management Services have begun construction work on a new operations facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland in support of test operations for unmanned systems, virtual battlespace environments and other naval aviation programs.

The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and G-W held on Aug. 24 the groundbreaking ceremony for the 17,000-square-foot facility intended to support NAWCAD’s Atlantic Test Ranges, the Navy reported Tuesday.

Rear Adm. Shane Gahagan, NAWCAD commander, said the new center would help NAWCAD reduce scheduling challenges, ensure security of data processing operations for the test ranges, and speed up delivery of new systems to the service branch’s fleet.

The new operations center will include mission test cells designed to facilitate flight tests of future naval programs such as the Unmanned Aircraft Common Control Station, Next-Generation Air Dominance system and MQ-25A Stingray.

NAWCAD expects construction work to be finished by late 2017.

NAWCAD’s ATR facilities include over 2,700 square miles of airspace in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and Chesapeake Bay used by the service branch to perform flight tests of naval aircraft systems.

Navy Rear Adm. Vincent Griffith, logistics operations director of the Defense Logistics Agency, has said DLA and the defense industry should collaborate to establish business practices that seek to manage sustainment costs for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and other platforms.

Griffith made the remarks Tuesday at the three-day DLA Land and Maritime Supplier Conference and Expo in Columbus, Ohio, DLA reported Tuesday.

He told attendees the need for DLA and industry to update the intercontinental ballistic missile, B-52 bomber and other aging weapons platforms.

DLA predicts the performance-based logistics to develop into a standard business practice as part of the Better Buying Power 3.0 program, he noted.

Griffith said the agency should design PBL contracts in a way that would provide incentives to defense companies for their efforts to increase readiness rates.

DLA also has begun to look for industry ideas on how to employ existing commercial products, he added.

A new audit from the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General says the Army Contracting Command-Redstone Arsenal and U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity’s firm-fixed‑price contract awards complied with federal rules.

DoD’s IG reviewed 15 out of 73 contract actions from ACC‑RA and USAMRAA research and development efforts for medical, software development and engineering services and determined the firm‑fixed‑price level‑of‑effort term contracts and task orders were properly administered, DoD IG said Tuesday.

“During FY 2014 and FY 2015, ACC‑RA and USAMRAA awarded 73 FFP LOE term contract actions totaling $332 million,” according to the audit report.

DoD IG said ACC‑RA and USAMRAA contracting officials justified the use of firm‑fixed‑price level‑of‑effort term contract for the nine contracts and six task orders examined.

“As a result, DoD Components benefited by using firm‑fixed‑price level‑of‑effort term contracts that allowed contractors the flexibility to develop innovative research and new technologies in support of the warfighter,” the IG added.