Aaron Bernstein / Reuters Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, accompanied by Maj. Gen. Mark Inch, lays a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Feb. 10.

WASHINGTON ― Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Tuesday that he has named an Army general to be in charge of the U.S. federal prisons system.

Gen. Mark Inch, who had served as a military policeman and recently as head of Army Corrections, was named the director of the Bureau of Prisons. Inch is “uniquely qualified” to head up the federal prisons system, Sessions said.

“My confidence that he will be a highly effective leader of the Bureau of Prisons is second only to my gratitude for his willingness to continue his service to this great country in this critical role,” Sessions said.

Inch was previously responsible for detainee operations in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Thomas Kane, who had been at BOP since 1977, has been the acting director of the bureau since January 2016. A BOP spokesperson told HuffPost that Kane will remain acting director until Inch formally joins the agency, and that Kane has not indicated his plans once Inch takes over.

This article has been updated with details about Kane’s future with the BOP.