A Maritime Self-Defense Force officer has been assigned to begin working in a senior U.S. naval office at the Pentagon in August, Japanese and U.S. government sources said Tuesday.

The officer, whose rank will be lieutenant commander, will work in the strategic section of a Defense Department office assisting Adm. Jonathan Greenert, who as chief of naval operations is the highest ranking officer in the navy, the sources said.

It will be the first appointment of a Self-Defense Forces officer to the office of the CNO, which has already accepted ranking military officers from Britain and Australia.