The U.S. Army has demonstrated a set of power generation systems that work to reduce fuel consumption during an integrated exercise at Fort Devens, Massachusetts.

The service branch said Thursday the exercise ran from May through June 17 at Fort Devens’ Base Camp Integration Laboratory as part of the Sustainability Logistics Basing — Science Technology Objective Demonstration that seeks to reduce fuel, water resupply demand and waste generation at small base camps.

“We introduced two new fuel reduction technology demonstrators as well as two returning systems with updated designs based on lessons learned from prior STO Demos and capability upgrades,” said Selma Matthews, SLB-STO-D fuel reduction thrust lead.

The Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command leads the project while the Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center manages the initiative that aims to reduce fuel demand by 25 percent.

CERDEC also tested its Energy Informed Operations tactical microgrid which is designed to give power resources access to the grid and support user management through a software applicatio.

The EIO microgrid worked to maintain power for 10 days at the south side of the camp at BCIL as the east side was powered through the Towable 100 kilowatt Generator Set that works to match engine speed with power load to reduce fuel usage, the Army said.

A computer modeling and simulation tool called Auto Distribution Illumination System Electrical worked to support the EIO microgrid and Towable 100 KW GenSet to help users prepare tailored power and heating, ventilation and air conditioning layouts, the Army noted.

CERDEC is scheduled to conclude SLB-STO-D in 2017 and continue to develop the participating fuel reduction technologies.

The Defense Logistics Agency established a “fully operational” insider-threat program five months ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline for all Defense Department components to develop and implement measures against security threats posed by employees.

DLA said Friday it formed an insider threat working group that will meet quarterly to create policy and engage senior leaders as well as an incident response group that comprises  record holders from each DLA subunit.

Jimmy Dyer, insider threat program manager of DLA’s intelligence unit, said a policy was signed in May 2015 to help identify individuals who could compromise the agency’s security through information systems or physical access.

“This policy and our program are geared toward those people who have inherent access to DLA, across the enterprise,” Dyer added.

Renee Roman, DLA chief of staff, formed a charter for an insider-threat working group in 2014 that established standard operating procedures on DLA’s coordinated response to potential risk indicators.

The agency identified 139 indicators such as history of crime or workplace violence, employee access to information system privileges and security clearances.

Dyer noted the initiative also seeks to protect employee privacy and civil liberties as well as promote transparency and trust throughout the organization.

The Defense Department officially sworn in Gen. David Goldfein as the 21st chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force during a ceremony held Friday at the Pentagon.

He is responsible for overseeing the service branch’s efforts to fully train and equip nearly 660,000 active-duty, civilian and reserve personnel, the Air Force said Friday.

Goldfein will also provide advice to the defense secretary, the National Security Council and the U.S. president as a Joint Chiefs of Staff member.

“(This is) my commitment to you — to work every day to give you everything I’ve got, to leave nothing on the table, to remain laser-focused on warfighting excellence, to find the opportunity in every challenge, to treat team building as a contact sport, and to be worthy of this honor,” he said in his pledge to the country’s airmen.

He was nominated by President Obama for the top Air Force uniformed post in April and confirmed by the full Senate June 29.

Goldfein previously served as vice chief of staff at the Air Force from August 2015 to June 2016 after he worked as Joint Staff director at the Pentagon for two years.

Kristen Schario, director of research and technology applications for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s aerospace systems directorate, has received the Defense Department‘s 2016 George Linsteadt Technology Transfer Achievement Award.

DoD said Tuesday the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering provides the award to DoD government and non-government employees that contributed in the execution of technology transfer partnership and helped migrate new technologies into or out of the department.

“Ms. Scharios’ performance… embodies the vision and spirit of the Linsteadt Award,” said Melissa Flagg, deputy assistant secretary of defense for research.

DoD officials noted Schario served as an advocate for technology accelerators and also managed and negotiated hundreds of partnership agreements with industry and academia partners that included formations of three start-ups in the past year that works to pursue commercializations of AFRL-developed technologies.

The U.S. Army has begun to test four platforms that work to protect combat vehicles from anti-tank guided missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, Defense News reported June 29.

Jen Judson writes the service branch considers three active protection systems from foreign companies and one platform from a domestic firm for integration with Stryker, M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles as part of the Modular Active Protection System program.

The Army plans to deploy the APS as an “interim” platform in an effort to address the operational requirements of warfighters in Europe, Judson reports.

Katrina McFarland, Army’s acquisition chief, told Defense News that some of the APS that the service branch considers for its fighting vehicles include Israeli Military Industry’s Iron Fist, Artis’ Iron Curtain and Trophy from Israel-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems in partnership with DRS Technologies.

The report said the military branch also plans to integrate Rheinmetall Defence’s Active Defense System with its combat vehicles.

NATO leaders will discuss the role of cyberspace in modern wars, conflicts and crises along with strategies to manage cyber issues at the alliance’s summit in Warsaw, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday.

Patrik Maldre and Jarno Limnell write the summit, which is scheduled to occur July 8 and 9, aims to tackle political strategies meant to facilitate cyber readiness and address growing threats such as denial-of-service, malware and social engineering programs.

Maldre and Limnell said they believe NATO should aim to increase cyber resilience among its allies and introduce new cyber capacity goals in the organization’s defense planning processes to help build trust among member states in the field of hybrid warfare.

NATO should also work to develop a cyber command that would plan and operate units for its defense initiatives as well as an early warning and trust-based information sharing system in an effort to deepen cooperation with the private sector industry, Maldre and Limnell added.