Maj. Gen. Dwyer Dennis, formerly director of global reach programs at the U.S. Air Force headquarters, has been appointed as the service branch’s program executive officer for command, control, communications, intelligence and networks, the Defense Department said Friday.

Dennis will be based at Air Force Materiel Command in his new assignment and was previously responsible for the branch’s airlift, air refueling, training and special operations programs.

Those programs account for a budget of $5.6 billion and include the KC-46, Presidential Airlift Replacement and Combat Rescue Helicopter, according to the Air Force.

The 33-year military veteran has held the positions of program executive officer for fighters and bombers at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center and director of AFMC’s intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and requirements directorate.

He is a recipient of the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Achievement Medal and Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, among other honors.

Andrew McCabe, formerly associate deputy director at FBI, has been named the new deputy director of the bureau.

McCabe will succeed Mark Giuliano, who has retired after a 28-year service with the bureau, and will be responsible for FBI’s domestic and international investigative and intelligence affairs, FBI said Friday.

“Andy’s 19 years of experience, combined with his vision, judgment, and ability to communicate make him a perfect fit for this job,” said FBI Director James Comey.

McCabe started his FBI career with the New York field office in 1996, with responsibility for organized crime investigations.

He also held roles within the counterterrorism division, the national security branch and the Washington field office.

A Congress-formed commission has issued 63 recommendations after it reviewed the U.S. Army‘s structure and policies for force size management and integration efforts, the Army News Service reported Thursday.

C. Todd Lopez writes the National Commission on the Future of the Army concluded that the military service needs at least 980,000 active-duty and reserve troops in order to carry out future missions.

The eight-commissioner group also urged the branch to retain 20 Boeing-built AH-64 Apache attack helicopter battalions within its active component and another four battalions at the Army National Guard.

NCFA also identified several approaches for the design and testing of a multicomponent unit for the Army’s aviation programs as well as called on the Defense Department secretary to authorize a flexible involuntary mobilization strategy for all Army components, Lopez reports.

The commission also proposed the implementation of programs to incentivize recruiters who help enlist new soldiers and to accelerate the move towards One Army School System.

The Defense Department has issued a new directive that aims to help foreign allies develop their capacity and capabilities as part of DoD’s international security cooperation strategy, the Federation of American Scientists reported Thursday.

Steven Aftergood writes the directive outlines responsibilities of DoD components to execute the Defense Institution Building initiative in U.S. partner nations.

The DIB program will work to “increase a partner nation’s ability to organize, administer, and oversee its defense institutions to meet its security needs and contribute to regional and international security more effectively,” according to the directive.

It also calls for the “establishment of defense institutions that are effective, accountable, transparent, and responsive to national political systems, especially regarding good governance, oversight of security forces, respect for human rights, and the rule of law.”

The order establishes a DIB Coordination Board that will explore strategies to address challenges related to department’s DIB activities.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said NATO member countries ceased to implement cuts to their defense budgets in 2015 amid emerging challenges and threats, DoD News reported Thursday.

Jim Garamone writes Stoltenberg told the press in Brussels during the presentation of his annual NATO report that five allies have spent at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense programs and equipment.

“We implemented the greatest strengthening of our collective defense since the end of the Cold War,” Stoltenberg said, according to the report.

He also outlined the efforts NATO has launched to fight hybrid warfare and address security challenges in the eastern and southern parts of the alliance.

These include updates to cyber defenses, the spearhead force’s initial deployment exercise under NATO’s response force and the presence of aerial warning and control system aircraft in Turkey.

Stoltenberg also mentioned the initial test flight of one of NATO’s Northrop Grumman-built Global Hawk unmanned aerial systems that will work to support the alliance’s intelligence missions.

The secretary general told the press that NATO plans to bolster the number of allied military exercises in 2016 as well as start construction work on a new facility for the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defense system in Poland by spring of this year.