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.

Dr. Walter S. McAfee - C5ISR Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Inductee

U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command

Video by Sean Kief

June 26, 2024 | 4:20

Dr. Walter S. McAfee served the Fort Monmouth community for 42 years, as a scientist, educator, supervisor, and mentor. From 1942 until his retirement in 1985, Dr. McAfee helped to create a vigorous, inclusive scientific community that was dedicated to advancing communications and electronics research, as well as paving the way for the advancement of minorities in the Federal workplace. In 1971, Dr. McAfee was the first African American employee of the U.S. Army to be promoted to GS-16, a “super-grade” civilian position with his appointment as Scientific Adviser to the Deputy for Laboratories, Army Electronics Command. He joined the Army Signal Corps Radar Laboratory at Camp Evans in 1942, where he was employed as a physicist in the theoretical studies unit of the Engineering Laboratories, Army Electronics Research Command. He gained special recognition in 1946 while with Project Diana at the Evans Signal Laboratory. This small team of scientists helped put man’s imprint on the moon for the first time with radar. This experiment made headlines on January 10, 1946, when the first contact occurred between earth and its satellite. Project Diana bounced an electronic echo from the moon’s surface back to an antenna at the Evans Signal Laboratory. McAfee’s theoretical calculations determined the feasibility of this original radar “moon bounce.” Many still regard it as the real beginning of the Space Age. More