Navy Rear Adm. Dee Mewbourne, former director of maritime operations at the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, formally assumed duties as commander of the Military Sealift Command during a ceremony held Thursday aboard the USNS Lewis B. Puller ship.

He succeeds Navy Rear Adm. T. K. Shannon, who has retired after a 34-year military career, the service branch said Friday.

Mewbourne previously commanded Electronic Attack Squadron 139 aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Nashville, USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, USS Enterprise, USS Harry S. Truman, Naval Service Training Command and Carrier Strike Groups 3 and 11.

He completed sea assigments flying the A-6E Intruder aircraft in Attack Squadron (VA) 34 embarked on USS America and VA-75 on USS John F. Kennedy as well as served as executive officer of VA-196 on USS Carl Vinson and VAQ-139 on Lincoln.

His onshore assignments include roles as a flight instructor in VA-42 and project officer at the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate.

The 33-year Navy veteran also served as military assistant and trip coordinator for the Defense Department secretary and deputy secretary, chief of staff at Navy Cyber Forces and on the staff of the Naval Air Force Atlantic commander.

Capt. Joseph Olson, former USS America executive officer, has succeeded Capt. Michael Baze as the the amphibious assault ship’s commanding officer during a change of command ceremony held Friday at Naval Base San Diego.

The U.S. Navy said Monday among the guests for the ceremony were Lynne Pace, the ship’s sponsor, and Rear Adm. Daniel Fillion, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3.

Olson started his military career in 1992 and has since served as chief engineer on board USS Dextrous, USS Warrior and USS Frederick, executive officer on board USS Cleveland, action officer for the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and lead analyst for ship and submarine programs of the Office of the Secretary of Defense programming division.

He was also chief of staff at the Office of the Secretary of Defense before to his assignment as USS America’s executive officer.

The U.S. Marine Corps‘ M1A1 Abrams tanks are set to receive new main gun tracking and thermal sights upgrades in an effort to increase their lethality during combat, the Marine Corps Times reported Friday.

Mike Kreiner, M1A1 project officer for the Marine Corps systems command, told Jeff Schogol that the upgrades will be installed on 400 Abrams tanks between October to December 2017.

The new gun tracking function is designed to allow commanders to track a moving target with the .50 caliber machine gun and with a button, position the main gun to the target as well.

The tank’s day and thermal sights will be upgraded with a color camera, color display, and a longer range of sight, Kreiner added.

Frank Kendall, defense undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, has met with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command‘s acquisition staff and command leadership to discuss acquisition priorities and initiatives.

The U.S. Navy said Friday Kendall engaged in an all hands meeting, awards ceremony, roundtables and laboratory tours during his visit to SPAWAR’s Old Town Campus and Systems Center Pacific facilities.

Kendall discussed the Defense Department‘s Better Buying Power 3.0 mandate that aims to update acquisition practices across the DoD to support warfighters, the Navy added.

The service branch noted the undersecretary answered employee questions on processes and the impact of fixed-cost contracts on industry competition.

Kendall also gave awards to recognize SPAWAR employees’ accomplishments that build on acquisition priorities and BBP 3.0 initiatives.

Awardees include Bill Farmer, who led efforts to provide C4I systems for ships; Emily Nguyen, who served as project manager of a team that produces six software applications each month for Marines; and Dai Nguyen, for his efforts to develop and implement virtual training environment platform.

Kendall toured SPAWAR System Center Pacific’s laboratories such as the Battlespace Exploitation of Mixed Reality laboratory that seeks to explore potential applications of virtual and augmented reality on warfighting, the Navy said.

The service branch added Kendall observed demonstrations of cyber situational awareness technologies, unmanned vehicles, nano satellites and command and control systems.

The FBI and other security agencies have conducted investigations on intrusions detected in recent months that targeted reporters at the New York Times and other U.S. news organizations, CNN reported Wednesday.

Evan Perez and Shimon Prokupecz write the investigators think Russian intelligence led the cyber breaches as part of a broader series of hacks aimed at Democratic party organizations to gather intelligence through non-governmental organizations with windows into the U.S. political system.

“We are constantly monitoring our systems with the latest available intelligence and tools … We have seen no evidence that any of our internal systems, including our systems in the Moscow bureau, have been breached or compromised,” said Eileen Murphy, the Times spokesperson.

The Democratic National Committee experienced a data breach in June that committee officials reported as attacks from state-sponsored Russian hackers to steal research data on then presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Rear Adm. Tom Druggan, a surface warfare officer at the U.S. Navy, has been appointed as commander of the Naval Surface Warfare Center.

He relieved Rear Adm. Lorin Selby, who has led NSWC since October 2014, during a change-of-command ceremony Thursday, the Navy said Friday.

Druggan previously commanded the Aegis ballistic missile defense destroyer ship USS O’Kane and served as program manager of Aegis combat systems in the service branch’s program executive office for integrated warfare systems.

He also managed the In-Service AEGIS Fleet Readiness and In-Service Aircraft Carrier Combat System Integration programs.

He was also assigned to the Defense Department as special assistant to the chief of naval operations and special assistant to the vice chief of naval operations as well as served as a staff member of the 2001 Navy Quadrennial Defense Review and founding member of the Navy operations group Deep Blue.