House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) is set to introduce a bill that would allocate $610 billion in defense budget for fiscal year 2017, Politico reported Thursday.

Jeremy Herb writes Thornberry’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017 is in line with President Barack Obama’s FY 2017 budget request and would move $18 billion from the overseas contingency operations budget to the Defense Department’s base funding.

The proposed $18 billion would be in addition to the $5 billion in OCO funds DoD has allocated for base requirements, bringing the total of the OCO-backed base budget to $23 billion, according to Politico.

The Pentagon uses the OCO budget to support military operations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Joe Gould also reports for Defense News that Thornberry said his version of the NDAA would force the next president to file a supplemental bill for the war funds or OCO budget.

The HASC’s defense policy bill that is set to be introduced in a week would allocate $3 billion in budget for the procurement of 11 more F-35s and 14 additional F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jets as well as $2 billion in funds for the U.S. Navy’s shipbuilding operations.

The proposed legislation would also authorize 27,000 active-duty service personnel and 25,000 reservists, Gould reports.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter has told defense ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council member countries to work together toward the defeat of the Islamic State militant group at a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Defense News reported Thursday.

Terri Moon Cronk writes Carter is on the last stop of his two-week trip across Asian countries and has attended a series of meetings with the defense heads of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.

Carter told the GCC defense leaders to include political and economical tactics on top of military efforts to ensure the defeat of the Islamic State group, Cronk wrote.

“Sunni support for multi-sectarian governance and reconstruction, particularly in Sunni areas of Iraq, will both be critical to ensuring that ISIL stays defeated,” Carter said.

The U.S. defense head added he also discussed Iran’s destabilizing behavior and other multilateral counter-threat programs with the GCC ahead of President Barack Obama’s arrival at the summit Thursday, Defense News reported.

Carter also cited the provision of $33 billion in defense equipment, regional maritime security and the development of a regional ballistic missile defense architecture blueprint with GCC, Cronk writes.

The Defense Department has recognized nine individuals, teams and installations within DoD for their environmental achievements and practices at the 2016 Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards.

DoD said Thursday nine winners were selected from 30 nominees.

“Our men and women work hard to keep environmental stewardship a top priority while simultaneously advancing our National Defense Mission,” said Frank Kendall, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.

The Pentagon noted it spent approximately $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2015 for its environmental initiatives as part of efforts to protect the environment and human health as well as maintain the availability of resources the Armed Forces needs.

The nine awardees are:

• Natural Resources Conservation, Small Installation – Camp Dawson Army Training Site, West Virginia Army National Guard
• Natural Resources Conservation, Individual/Team – Fort McCoy Natural Resources Branch, Wisconsin
• Environmental Quality, Non-Industrial Installation – Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California
• Environmental Quality, Individual/Team – Eglin Air Force Base Environmental Quality Team, Florida
• Sustainability, Industrial Installation – Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island, Florida
• Environmental Restoration, Installation – Beale Air Force Base, California
• Environmental Restoration, Individual/Team – Vieques Environmental Restoration Program Team, Puerto Rico
• Cultural Resources Management, Large Installation – White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico
• Environmental Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition, Large Program – KC-46 Program Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Team, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad Wednesday to meet with other U.S., Iraqi and coalition military officials there and discuss ongoing efforts against the Islamic State militant group, DoD News reported Wednesday.

Jim Garamone writes armed forces from the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and 13 other countries help train Iraqi, Syrian and Peshmerga soldiers to fight Islamic State terrorists.

The report said more than 3,000 fighters are being trained across Iraq.

U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve campaign, told a press briefing Wednesday that Iraqi troops have worked to free the cities of Beiji, Ramadi and Hit from the militants.

Dunford’s visit to Baghdad comes as the Defense Department plans to deploy additional U.S. military personnel in the Iraq to support the anti-Islamic State fight.

The U.S. Marine Corps‘ engineer school has developed a new curriculum to train warfighters to counter improvised explosive device threats, Marine Corps Times reported Tuesday.

Matthew Schehl writes that USMC looks to provide units with hands-on field training and tailored intelligence based on the geographic area the squads are assigned to, using lessons learned from previous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The enemy is obviously evolving, and we’re taking steps to provide Marines and sailors with the very best training so they can learn the hard lessons up front before they step off to defend the nation,” said Maj. Mark George, officer-in-charge of the engineer school’s “Defeat the Device” team, according to the report.

He said the unit looks to provide Marines and sailors with training that will address the evolving enemy threats in an effort to meet awareness and readiness requirements.

The report added that the Marines will complete six modules as part of the course, which works to train the participants to recognize, detect, jam or respond to set or detonated IEDs.

A pilot of the new training course was completed February at Camp Pendleton, where the Marine Corps Engineer School will offer the program alongside Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Schehl reports.