The Defense Department has kicked off the transition process with the incoming administration a day after Donald Trump won the elections, Military Times reported Wednesday.

Leo Shane writes transition teams who work for president-elect Donald Trump have started to develop plans to assume operations at various federal departments 68 days before the inauguration day.

“We’re ready today to transition on big programs, on the budget, on the way forward,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus was quoted as saying last month during a panel discussion with other defense officials.

Army Secretary Eric Fanning also said his team spent developed briefings for weeks to help the next president’s advisers begin their work, according to the report.

Fanning added that the goal is to help fulfill the requirements of those teams and address priority issues and budgets, Shane reports.

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James added that priorities include a review of threats faced by the nation and efforts to maintain overseas operations, according to Military Times.

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.