DOD announces new high-level Navy advisory panel

The Defense Department plans to establish a new group advising the Navy secretary on high-level issues confronting the sea service, DOD announced today.According to a notice in the Federal Register, the panel’s topics will include acquisition reform, the shipbuilding industrial base and intelligence organization in the Navy.The group, named the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel, will be set up in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the notice reads. DOD officials have created a host of FACA-style advisory groups to provide expert advice on a variety of issues that range from service members’ health to nuclear weapons.Some of those committees, such as the Defense Science and the Defense Policy boards, are considered influential in the defense bureaucracy.The Navy already has an advisory committee focused on scientific and technical naval issues. The organization, named the Naval Research Advisory Committee, is drafting a report about biometric technologies.