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.

2019 Army-Navy game spirit shoutout from Poland

Naval Support Facility Redzikowo

Video by Lt. Amy Forsythe

Dec. 2, 2019 | 0:23

NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY REDZIKOWO, Poland (Dec. 2, 2019) – Personnel assigned to Naval Support Facility (NSF) Redzikowo and Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) Poland are gearing up for the 2019 Army-Navy football game Sat., Dec. 14, 2019. Service members will be watching the game at a local restaurant in Slupsk, Poland. Alumni of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Maj. Dainis Butners (left), class of 2009, and U.S. Naval Academy Cmdr. Joshua Lewis (right), class of 2000 will be rooting for their teams during the historic matchup. The Army–Navy game is one of the most traditional and enduring rivalries in college football that began in 1890. Butners and Lewis are standing in front of the Aegis Ashore ‘deckhouse’ which is still under construction. The Navy’s newest base is expected to be completed sometime in late 2020 which will allow Aegis Ashore to expand a defensive capability that protects NATO European territories, populations and forces against ballistic missiles launched from outside the Euro-Atlantic region. (Video by U.S. Navy Lt. Amy Forsythe, Public Affairs Officer, Naval Support Facility Redzikowo) More