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.

KJGX WSR-88D Doppler weather radar Service Life Extension Program service

78th Air Base Wing

Video by Paul Wenzel

Jan. 8, 2022 | 0:32

Jeffersonville, Georgia - The Next generation Weather Radar WSR-88D site KJGX located in Jeffersonville, GA received NOAA National Weather
Service directed NEXRAD Service Life Extension Program component upgrades.
On Jan. 8, technicians removed the radome to refurbish the pedestal assembly of the Doppler radar.
The Radar Operations Center at the National Weather center in Norman, Oklahoma provides maintenance coordination of the entire network of 159 radars to include 25 Department of Defense NEXRADs.
The SLEP is a series of upgrades and replacements that will keep our nation's radars viable into the 2030's. The KGJX WSR-88D has been in operation since 1988.
The first project of the WSR-88D radar was the installation of a new signal processor, next was an update of the transmitter. The final two projects are the refurbishment of the pedestal and the radar generators.
NOAA National Weather Service, the United States Air Force, and the Federal Aviation Administration are investing $150 million in the seven-year program.
The Robins AFB NEXRAD (KJGX) remains one of the best-maintained systems in the USAF inventory. This Doppler radar system provides continuous weather monitoring capability to provide Team Robins with accurate and timely weather observations, forecasts, resource protection, and weather briefings to ensure safety and success of all base and flight operations.
This WSR-88D radar also provides local meteorologists and weather forecasters the ability to detect any weather systems in the region. More