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Reoptimization for Great Power Competition

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Department of the Air Force
 

 

 

LATEST NEWS

 

“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
 

Air Force & Space Force announce sweeping changes to maintain superiority amid Great Power Competition

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.

 

L2A2 Tunica Air Center-Extended
101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
Video by Spc. Parris Kersey, Capt. Tevin Radford
Aug. 13, 2024 | 7:45
Forward arming and refueling point (FARP) operations during the large-scale long-range air assault by the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) on Aug. 13, 2024 at the Tunica Air Center in Tunica, Miss.

The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) conducts a large-scale, long-range (L2A2) Air Assault in support of 2nd Mobile Brigade Combat Team “STRIKE”, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) 24-10 rotation at Fort Johnson, La. Large-scale, long-range Air Assault (L2A2) allows the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) to rapidly concentrate highly lethal, low-signature, and cohesive combat forces from dispersed locations to overwhelm adversaries at a place and time of our choosing. L2A2 means delivering one brigade combat team over 500 nautical miles in one period of darkness, arriving as a cohesive element where the enemy least expects it, capable of fighting behind enemy lines for 14 or more days.
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Space Force Great Power Competition

 
Department of the Air Force