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.

Wisconsin National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk operations at Fort McCoy

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office

Video by Scott Sturkol

July 27, 2023 | 0:21

Four UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters operated by aircrews with the Wisconsin National Guard are shown heading in to land July 27, 2023, at Sparta-Fort McCoy Airport at Fort McCoy, Wis., as part of training operations at the installation. The UH-60 Black Hawk has been the Army’s front line utility helicopter for the past 40 years, and it shows no signs of letting up, said service officials at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. The helicopter is a regular fixture every year at Fort McCoy, Wis., particularly during major exercises such as the Combat Support Training Exercise. Black Hawk crews with the 1st Battalion, 147th Regiment of the Wisconsin National Guard in Madison, for example, support a wide variety of Guard and Reserve training on the post regularly. Now in its fourth decade of service, the Black Hawk was developed as a result of the Army’s requirement in 1972 for a simple, robust, and reliable utility helicopter system to satisfy projected air-mobile requirements around the globe. (Video by Scott Sturkol, Public Affairs Office, Fort McCoy, Wis.) More