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.

Chaplain (Capt.) Emil Kapaun’s Remains Return to Wichita, Ks.

Defense Media Activity - Army Productions

Video by Harry Lockley

Sept. 25, 2021 | 5:23

Chaplain (Capt.) Emil Kapaun joined the U.S. Army from Kansas and served in the China/Burma/India theatre during WWII and with the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during the Korean War. During 1st Cavalry Division’s retreat from Unsan in November 1950, Chaplain Kapaun volunteered to stay with the wounded, was captured and taken to a Chinese-run prison camp on the Yalu River's south bank known as Camp 5. Chaplain Kapaun continued to minister to other prisoners of war (POW), even after he became mortally ill. He lived long enough to celebrate a final Easter Mass for the POWs in late March and died on May 23, 1951. Other POWs buried him in the camp’s cemetery, but, he was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the 1953 armistice.
In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Chaplain Kapaun a Servant of God, the first stage on the path to canonization. President Barack Obama posthumously awarded chaplain Kapaun the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony on April 11, 2013.
On March 2, 2021 the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of U.S. Army Chaplain (Capt.) Kapaun. On Sept. 25, 2021, his remains were returned to Wichita, Ks, and taken to his hometown of Pilsen, Ks, where they lay in state. On 29, 2021, his remains received the Rite of Christian Burial, and then were carried by Horse-Drawn Caisson to Wichita’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for interment. More