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.

Mount St. Helens Grade Building Structures Pilot Project

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District

Video by Diana Fredlund, Michelle Helms

June 16, 2010 | 2:09

The Mount St. Helens Grade Building Structures Pilot Project is designed to trap sand flowing from the Mount St. Helens volcano and keep it out of the Cowlitz River system. The wooden structures are built in the sediment plain above the Sediment Retention Structure and can be seen from viewing areas near the SRS and Hoffstadt Bluffs Visitors Center. Solar-powered cameras mounted at the site record images of the site every 15 minutes as the North Fork Toutle River flows through the structures. The cameras are able to record major weather events and river flow conditions that the team would otherwise have no way to observe and allow engineers to monitor the structures’ effectiveness from Portland District headquarters, more than 70 miles away. Members of the Mount St. Helens project team also visit the site periodically to evaluate the conditions and determine if the structures are working as designed. These on-the-ground site visits are also important for assessing how these structures impact fish passage upstream and downstream. The Corps believes this pilot project will provide the data necessary to determine if the structures could be an effective component of the Corps’ strategy to manage the sediment, to maintain flood damage reduction benefits for the communities of Longview, Kelso, Castle Rock and Lexington. Available in high definition. More