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.

Task Force Operations Participates in VR24 (B-Roll)

29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Video by Staff Sgt. Chazz Kibler

April 24, 2024 | 1:03

Members of Task Force Operations participate in the Vibrant Response 24 exercise at the Mission Training Center in Fort Carson, Colorado, on April 24, 2024. Vibrant Response is an annual U.S. Northern Command directed command post exercise. As U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North is Vibrant Response 24's executive agent responsible for ensuring the training focuses on a simulated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) disaster scenario designed to validate U.S. Northern Command's CBRN Response Enterprise's ability to exercise short-notice and no-notice deployment of military forces at the request of civil authorities to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and mitigate property damage following a catastrophic CBRN event. (U.S. Army National Guard video by Staff Sgt. Chazz Kibler) (This video has been altered for security purposes by blurring out identification badges.) More