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.

Hurricane Florence - South Carolina National Guard Responds

169th Fighter Wing

Video by Master Sgt. Carl Clegg

Sept. 21, 2018 | 5:41

South Carolina National Guard's 43rd Civil Support Team from West Columbia, S.C. along with Soldiers from the 1-118th Infantry Battalion from Mt. Pleasant, S.C. were tasked to launch an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Raven, to capture real-time video imagery of the flooding and potential for additional impact areas as flooding continues in Conway and Myrtle Beach, S.C. along Hwy 501, Sept. 21, 2018. This is their fourth aerial reconnaissance mission this week in support of flooding that continues to affect many areas of the Carolinas. Such missions must be coordinated and approved by the Secretary of Defense, with these being the first time a UAV was used in direct support of relief efforts caused a natural disaster. South Carolina National Guard Engineers and Transportation Corps are placing sandbags along the highway to ensure roadways remain passable and communities are not cut-off on the main route to highly populated Myrtle Beach, S.C. They have laid nearly three miles of barrier protecting a mile and a half of road with sandbags and flood barriers to keep the road open from flooding. There are approximately 2,200 South Carolina National Guard Soldiers, 40 Airmen, 100 State Guard on duty as well as 28 Soldiers and Airmen from Pennsylvania and Alaska National Guard, 8 troops from the New York National Guard, 100 Tennessee National Guard assisting response efforts from the impacts of Hurricane Florence. (U.S. National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Carl Clegg, 169th Fighter Wing, Public Affairs) More