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.

III MIG Operations Officer Interview: Lt. Col. Jeffrey Brewer ( Close/Up)

III MEF Information Group

Video by Cpl. Colton Garrett

April 21, 2022 | 7:27

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Jeffrey Brewer, operations officer of III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, gives remarks on the purpose and importance of the MIG, and a field exercise that was conducted at Jungle Warfare Training Center at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 21, 2022. During the FEX, III MIG Marines practiced their ability to conduct distributed operations in an austere environment. JWTC provides challenging terrain that is found on many of the islands in the Indo-Pacific. Mastery of this terrain contributes to III MIG’s ability to employ multiple modes of low-signature maneuver in a jungle environment; as well as developing and deploying distributed, lethal, networked and persistent capabilities to process and close kill chains. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. Colton K. Garrett) More