Lt. Gen Mashall Webb, commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Special Operations Headquarters, has been nominated to lead the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command in Hurlburt Field, Florida.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has nominated the 30-year veteran command pilot as commander of the special operations command, Defense Department said Wednesday.

Webb currently leads the NSHQ that handles development, coordination and direction of that works to optimize special operations forces employment.

He has over 3,700 flight hours including 117 combat hours and served as the commander for the 20th Special Operations Squadron, 352nd Special Operations Group, 1st Special Operations Wing, 23rd Air Force, and Special Operations Command Europe.

Mike Stevens, master chief petty officer of the U.S. Navy, plans to retire from the military after four years in that role, Navy Times reported Wednesday.

Mark Faram writes Stevens pushed for an expansion of the Navy’s Senior Enlisted Academy and the implementation of a policy to require sailors aiming for a higher enlisted rank to attend the SEA program.

He told  Navy Times in a phone interview he will recommend that the Navy consider “all command master chiefs who are currently or have served at least 18 total months in a billet at the three or four-star level” as eligible to apply for the MCPON post.

The 33-year naval veteran previously led the military branch’s Helicopter Mine Countermeasure Squadron 14 and Helicopter Sea Combat Wing Atlantic units as well as the U.S. 2nd Fleet.

He took on his current role Sept. 28, 2012, after two years as the 16th Fleet master chief for commander.

Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff at the U.S. Army, has said the service branch plans to lay off another 14,000 uniformed personnel as it works to reduce its total military personnel to approximately 980,000 by 2018, Federal News Radio reported Tuesday.

Allyn told Senate Armed Services readiness subcommittee members Tuesday that 10,000 of the planned cuts will be in the officer ranks, Scott Maucione writes.

“With 186,000 deployed on a daily basis in 140 countries, you understand my discomfort with trying to continue to meet emergent demands and current operations with a force that is getting smaller,” he said.

Allyn also noted that the service branch has given the Army National Guard and Reserve a priority to employ military personnel who were affected by the layoffs as civilians.

“It has really helped out reserve components save dollars by taking experienced soldiers into the ranks and not having to retrain them, so that has been a positive benefit of this unfortunate drawdown,” he said.

Julie Blanks, principal director for civilian personnel policy at the office of the defense undersecretary for personnel and readiness, has been named director of the defense civilian personnel advisory service at the Defense Department.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced Blanks’ appointment to the Senior Executive Service role in a DoD release published Tuesday.

The Pentagon’s CPP and DCPAS oversee the development of civilian personnel and human resource policies and provide HR platforms and advisory support services to defense agencies and service departments in various areas such as workforce planning, recruitment and performance management.

In her role as CPP principal director, Blanks is responsible for the development of HR management policies, plans and initiatives for DoD civilians.

She previously worked at the Federal Emergency Management Agency as deputy chief component human capital officer.