Shyu out, McFarland in

Katrina McFarland, the assistant secretary of defense for acquisition, began her new assignment as acting Army acquisition chief on Monday, according to a service spokesman.

McFarland takes over the duties of Heidi Shyu, who retired at the end of January. Whoever serves in the top job in the service's acquisition bureaucracy must be confirmed by the Senate. The White House has yet to name a nominee. McFarland's name has been in the mix of potential Shyu successors for weeks.

The move at the top of the Army acquisition office, which is headed by a civilian, comes at a time when the uniformed leadership is moving forward in crafting a series of reform proposals for Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. That review is set to take a page from the famed Decker-Wagner report of 2011.