Reoptimization for Great Power Competition

GPC Key Decisions

USAF Case for Change

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.

Spirit video for the 120th Army — Navy football game Dec. 14, 2019 by U.S. Army Operational Test Command's Airborne & Special Operations Test Directorate, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

U.S. Army Operational Test Command

Video by Courtesy

Dec. 4, 2019 | 0:59

Let's start the hype!

The U.S. Army Operational Test Command's Airborne & Special Operations Test Directorate at Fort Bragg, North Carolina produced an inspirational video for the 120th Army — Navy football game Saturday, Dec. 14, 2019.

The Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate (ABNSOTD) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina — whose lineage traces directly back to the original Parachute Test Platoon of 1940 — is home to the U.S. Army's only operational test paratroopers, who conduct operational testing for joint airborne contingency and Special Operations Forces in support of the acquisition decision-making process. To provide airdrop certification of all airborne and airdropped equipment, ABNSOTD plans, executes and reports on its operational tests and field experiments, which impacts doctrine, training, organization and materiel.

As the Army's only independent operational tester, the U.S. Army Operational Test Command at Fort Hood, Texas is celebrating "50 Years of Operational Testing," which began Oct. 1, 1969. The unit enlists the "Total Army" (Active, National Guard, and Reserve) when testing Army, joint, and multi-service warfighting systems in realistic operational environments, using typical Soldiers to determine whether the systems are effective, suitable, and survivable. OTC is required by public law to test major systems before they are fielded to its ultimate customer -- the American Soldier.

(Produced by Chris O'Leary, Videographer, Airborne & Special Operations Test Directorate, Fort Bragg, North Carolina) More