The U.S. Army reported Thursday that it has teamed up with Canada’s army to teach strategies on handling improvised explosive devices and mines to a platoon of the Mongolian armed forces at the multinational peacekeeping exercise Khaan Quest 2016.

Cpl. Janessa Pon, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, writes the training helped the MAF prepare for a future United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan where minefield threats are common.

“We’re equipping the MAF with the skills necessary to counter improvised explosive devices and stay safe while executing peacekeeping missions,” said Army Sgt. Andy Hicks, 388th Clearance Company, 841st Engineer Battalion explosive ordnance disposal technician.

Army noted participants took classes and executed practical applications of the training that included several scenarios including mine identification, location marking of mines or unexploded ordnance and mine probing using issued gear.

MAF hosted the Khaan Quest and was co-sponsored by the U.S. Pacific Command and supported by U.S. Army Pacific and MARFORPAC, the report said.

U.S. and Jordanian forces have completed a joint arms live fire exercise as part of a move to build up military partnership between the two nations.

The Eager Lion 16 exercise kicked off with the U.S. military providing fire support to the Jordanian armed forces’ clearance operations in a town on May 24, the U.S. Army said Tuesday.

“Exercises like Eager Lion 16 aim to decrease the friction points between the JAF soldiers and U.S. forces as they work together to reinforce our partnership,” said Lt. Col. Charles Canon, the chief military assistance action officer with the U.S. Embassy in Jordan.

The JAF and U.S. forces take turns every year to plan the exercise and Jordan led the planning for the 2016 exercise meant to help each service integrate counterparts.

Lt. Gen. Michael Garrett, U.S. Army Central commanding general, participated in an operations briefing and received updates on the two nations’ progress prior to the combined arms live-fire exercise.

Defense committees in both chambers of Congress have called on the U.S. Air Force to speed up its recapitalization effort for the service’s legacy ground surveillance fleet, Defense News reported Friday.

Lara Seligman writes the current Air Force review on how long the existing Northrop Grumman-built E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System can operate is set to complete in March 2017.

The legacy E-8 JSTARS features a Boeing 707-300 airframe that conducts ground surveillance and battle management support missions for ground and air commanders, according to the report.

The Air Force told Defense News the selection for a replacement fleet is set for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 and that the initial operational capability for the new fleet is scheduled in fiscal 2024.

Lawmakers expressed concern that an extended search for a replacement fleet could impair ground moving target indicators and battle management command and control systems, Defense News reports.

The House Armed Service’s version of the defense policy bill approved May 18 states that the Defense Department could see a “shortfall of 10 JSTARS aircraft in its fleet of 16 operational aircraft by late fiscal year 2025,” the report says.

Gen. Frank Gorenc, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa commander, will retire from his current role by September, Air Force Times reported Sunday.

Oriana Pawlyk writes that the service branch has not yet named a successor to the 37-year Air Force veteran.

Gorenc has held several roles with the Air Combat Command, Air Staff, Joint Staff and U.S. European Command throughout his career.

He has also worked to establish the U.S. as a rapid response force in Europe and Africa, the report said.

Gorenc also currently serves as commander of Allied Air Command at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and director of the Joint Air Power Competence Center in Kalkar, Germany.

He has recorded more than 4,500 flight hours and has received various service awards and recognition including the Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Airman’s Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal and Joint Service Commendation Medal.

Vice Adm. Robert Burke, former director of the U.S. Navy‘s military personnel plans and policy division, has assumed his new role as chief of naval personnel.

Burke will handle planning and programming strategies of all manpower, personnel, training and education resources for the service branch, Navy said Friday.

“I am committed to empowering our sailors, modernizing our personnel policies and operating systems and providing the right training at the right time to our force,” he said

Adm. Bill Moran, former naval personnel chief for nearly three years, was nominated in May to serve as vice chief of naval operations at the Pentagon and will succeed current VCNO Adm. Michelle Howard.

Steven Calvery will retire from his role as director of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency after 10 years of service focused on post-9/11 protection and security missions, DoD News reported Friday.

Terri Moon Cronk writes Calvery currently leads efforts to maintain the safety of 25,000 people in the Pentagon and 30,000 DoD employees deployed at facilities across the Washington metropolitan region.

Calvery previously worked for the U.S. Secret Service for 21 years and served on the security detail of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, according to the report.

The four-decade federal service veteran managed the Secret Service’s training academy before he joined the Treasury Department as a senior law enforcement adviser and later moved to the Interior Department, where he took national security roles to handle post-9/11 issues.

Calvery established the post-9/11 security screening infrastructure on the National Mall prior to becoming a PFPA director, Cronk reports.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh estimates the military service will need at least 40,000 more airmen in order to maximize its manpower capacity, Air Force Times reported Saturday.

Oriana Pawlyk writes the Air Force aims to build up the branch’s intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and cyber units as well as train more pilots to operate its fleet of F-35s.

“People are a limiting factor right now,” Welsh told audience at an Air Force Association breakfast event held Thursday in Washington, according to the report.

“And adding more burden to them in any way, shape or form is a bad idea.”

The report said the service branch also seeks to increase the number of its drone-based combat air patrol missions from 60 to 70 flights per day.