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.

Army Medical Teams Train During Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise

Medical Readiness and Training Command

Video by Maj. Michael Meyer

Nov. 22, 2019 | 5:45

The Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise (EDRE) is a U.S. Forces Command deployment readiness exercise with a short, or no-notice, deployment to test the unit’s ability to alert, recall, and deploy under emergency conditions. The EDRE Medical Exercise (MEDEX) that took place Oct. 17 to Nov. 22, 2019 included Army medical training units, exercise control support staff, observer coaches/trainers, logistics and communications support. Training units included over 800 active duty Soldiers from the 1st Medical Brigade, 44th Med. Bde., and 62nd Med. Bde. The exercise took place at two training locations in California separated by 500 miles of desert and mountainous terrain–Sierra Army Depot and the National Training Center, Fort Irwin.

The Army Reserve Medical Readiness and Training Command (MRTC) provided the training platform, including developing and executing scenarios with live role players and realistic high fidelity medical manikins. The exercise simulated battlefield conditions and challenged the medical units with various casualty events, to include mass casualties. One of the goals of the exercise was to test the smaller, more agile, and closer-to-combat field hospitals by creating strain on their medical personnel and medical logistical resources. MRTC also provided for their basic needs including tents, food, water and power. MRTC, headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio–Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, enables the U.S. Armed Forces to maintain a ready status by providing campaign-quality medical training exercises.
The EDRE medical exercise also challenged the various medical units by simulating the complex logistical and organizational challenges that can be experienced during a deployment. For example, it is common for units that are not usually organized together to be deployed under a new command structure. It is necessary that they can flexibly adapt to a new chain of command and organizational structure. They also must assimilate a variety of equipment that was not previously owned or maintained by the unit.

The 531st Hospital Center (HC) from Ft. Campbell, Ky, exercised mission command over two field hospitals—the 586th Field Hospital (FH) and the 115th FH. They acquired equipment, vehicles, and generators from the Medical Regional Training Site at Camp Parks, Calif. They also acquired their medical equipment from the Army Pre-positioned Stock (APS) at Sierra Army Depot, managed by the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency (USAMMA) through the Army Surgeon General’s Medical Materiel Readiness Program (MMRP).

(Video produced through government contract, and depicts actual training exercises taking place.) More