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.

2-20 FAR Level 2 DRE B-Roll, Oct. 31, 2025

75th Field Artillery Brigade

Video by Capt. Erick Schneider-Cuevas

Oct. 31, 2025 | 5:50

2-20 FAR executes a Level 2 Deployment Readiness Exercise (DRE) October 31, 2025 on Fort Sill, Oklahoma. DREs assess the unit’s deployment support capabilities and are typically conducted unannounced or with limited notice for the assessed unit, with unit’s typically expected to be fully prepared to deploy within 96 hours of alert. Level I DREs evaluate the unit’s ability to alert, assemble, and conducted Soldier readiness tasks and validate the unit’s deployment certifications, orders generating process, standard operating procedures, and system documentation. Level II DREs include all Level I tasks, with the added tasks of physically loading containers and equipment to appropriate modes of transportation and execution of local and/or internal area movements, among others. (U.S. Army video by Capt. Erick Schneider-Cuevas). More