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.

Double-crested cormorants forage on East Sand Island

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District

Video by Michelle Helms

July 15, 2014 | 0:44

Over the past 15 years, double-crested cormorants on East Sand Island consumed approximately 11 million juvenile salmon and steelhead per year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Statement and management plan to reduce predation of ESA-listed juvenile salmon and steelhead by double-crested cormorants in the Columbia River Estuary.

The Corps is working with cooperating agencies--the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife-- to develop the draft EIS. More