Reoptimization for Great Power Competition

GPC Key Decisions

USAF Case for Change

SecAF Memo

Air Force FAQ for Reoptimizing Great Power Competition

“We need these changes now; we are out of time to reoptimize our forces to meet the strategic challenges in a time of great power competition.”

~ Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall

The United States faces a time of consequence marked by significant shifts in the strategic environment. To remain ready, the U.S. Air Force must change.

In early 2024, the Department of the Air Force unveiled sweeping plans for reshaping, refocusing, and reoptimizing the Air Force and Space Force to ensure continued supremacy in their respective domains while better posturing the services to deter and, if necessary, prevail in an era of Great Power Competition. Through a series of 24 DAF-wide key decisions, four core areas which demand the Department’s attention will be addressed: Develop People, Generate Readiness, Project Power and Develop Capabilities.

Today, the Air Force once again finds itself at a critical juncture—an era of Great Power Competition marked by a new security environment, a rapidly evolving character of war, and a formidable competitor. This new era requires understanding its challenges and the attributes needed to succeed.

Embracing change is not a choice; it is a necessity. The Air Force must “reoptimize” into an enterprise prepared for high-end conflicts and long-term strategic competition.

RIMPAC 2016: CLOSE AIR SUPPORT

15th Marine Expeditionary Unit

Video by Cpl. Rachael Zilliox

July 13, 2016 | 0:58

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, California - U.S. Marines, Mexican sailors and Canadian soldiers conduct close air support missions during the Southern California portion of the Rim of the Pacific 2016, aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif’, July 13, 2016. The close air support missions help redefine and refine tactics in close air support and will also serve to assist the Mexican navy for laying the ground work and foundation for a structured tactical air control party school in the future. Units participating in the exercise were Marines with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, Canada’s 2e Battalion royal 22e Regiment, and service members with the Mexican navy. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th iteration in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl Rachael E. Zilliox/Released) More