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.

Berlin Lake Eclipse 2024

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District

Video by Stacey G. Wyzykowski

April 8, 2024 | 1:53

Elizabeth Morsillo and Nicole Govan, natural resource specialists with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District, share their experiences of the total solar eclipse as it passed over Berlin Lake Dam in Deerfield Township, Ohio, April 8, 2024.

Berlin Lake is one of 16 flood damage reduction projects in the Pittsburgh District. The reservoir provides flood protection for the Mahoning River Valley as well as for the Beaver and Upper Ohio Rivers. The Pittsburgh District had a total of seven reservoirs located within the solar eclipse’s path of totality in 2024. The locations included Michael J. Kirwan Dam in Ravenna, Ohio; Berlin Lake Dam in Deerfield Township, Ohio; Mosquito Creek Lake in Cortland, Ohio; Shenango River Lake in Hermitage, Pennsylvania; Woodcock Creek Lake in Saegertown, Pennsylvania; Union City Dam in Waterford, Pennsylvania; and the Allegheny Reservoir which stretches across northwestern Pennsylvania into New York.

Since the founding of the United States in 1776, there have been 21 total solar eclipses visible from the continental U.S. The next total solar eclipse visible from North America will be Aug. 22, 2044, over North Dakota and Montana.

Pittsburgh District’s reservoirs are designed for flood risk reduction and provide waterflow to navigable waterways, but they are also popular recreational destinations for fishing, water sports and enjoying the outdoors.

(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District video filmed and edited by Stacey Wyzykowski; photos by Nicole Govan and Elizabeth Morsillo; total eclipse stock footage from Getty Images / Licensed content from Getty Images and Megatrax Production Music, LLC) More