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.

ERDC partners with the University of Southern Mississippi to Maximize Gulf Oyster Habitat Restoration

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center

Video by Jared Eastman, Jared Eastman, Spc. David Jackson

Jan. 4, 2021 | 6:17

Dr. Safra Altman, a research ecologist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory and the technical lead for the project, Dr. Read Hendon, director of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory and the University of Southern Mississippi's project lead, and Dr. Todd Slack, an ERDC Environmental Laboratory fisheries biologist who will be investigating Gulf sturgeon, provide commentary regarding a three-year research collaboration between ERDC and the University of Southern Mississippi to create oyster reef habitat in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The primary objectives of the project are to investigate methods for optimizing oyster habitat restoration in the area ― which would ultimately lead to oyster population recovery — and enhancement of ecosystem services in coastal waters; a secondary objective is to evaluate whether the oyster reefs have any impacts on the use of critical habitat by Gulf sturgeon, a federally protected species. More