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.

BROLL Rapid Trident 2017: Tactical Airdrop Operations

45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

Video by Capt. Kayla Christopher, Sgt. Anthony Jones

Sept. 20, 2017 | 1:03

BROLL: Ukrainian soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade secure a drop zone in preparation for a U.S. Air Force C-130 to drop supplies for Ukrainian army units taking part in Exercise Rapid Trident 2017 at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center on the International Peacekeeping and Security Center in Western Ukraine. After the supplies land, the 1st of the 95th soldiers retrieve the supplies.

Rapid Trident is an annual, multinational exercise involving approximately two thousand personnel from 14 nations. The exercise is composed of a multinational, brigade-level, computer-assisted command post exercise integrated with a battalion-level field training exercise and platoon-level situational training exercises. The exercise will also include integrated, aeromedical evacuation and tactical airlift and airdrop training. Rapid Trident 2017 supports joint combined interoperability among Ukraine, the U.S., and allied and partner nations. (Video by Sgt. Anthony Jones and Capt. Kayla Christopher, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team) More