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.

Exercise Cartwheel 2022 Urban Combat Training Video

343rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Video by Sgt. 1st Class Abel Aungst

Sept. 13, 2022 | 0:35

20220913 - Urban combat Ops CW22

Bombardier YTF Arana Shamos Te Awatea Hunter, Senior Targeting ACK
161st Battery, Royal New Zealand Army Artillery discusses what it is like to work with the US and partner Forces. At the same time, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division clears a mock shoot house during Multilateral Urban Combat Operations as part of Exercise Cartwheel at Black Rock Camp, Fiji, on September 13, 2022. Exercise Cartwheel is a multilateral military-to-military training exercise with the U.S., Republic of Fiji Military, Australian, New Zealand, and British forces that builds expeditionary readiness and interoperability by increasing the capacity to face a crisis and contingencies by developing and stressing units at the highest training levels. More