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.

Community Living Center Courtyard Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center

Video by Mary Schindler

June 4, 2013 | 2:09

Community Living Center Courtyard ribbon cutting ceremony at the Captain James A. Lovell, Federal Health Care Center. Retired Navy Captain and former NASA astronaut James A. Lovell today joined Lovell FHCC leaders, Lovell FHCC Community Living Center
residents and staff, and project donors - The Grainger Foundation and
AMVETS Wheeling Post 66 - to cut the ribbon on a new courtyard.

More than 200 people in the audience, including leaders from Great Lakes
Naval Station and Veteran Service Organizations affiliated with Lovell
FHCC, gathered with contractor representatives to celebrate the
completion of the project, several years in the making.

The new courtyard is anchored by an expansive four-season room with
walls of windows, designed to seamlessly connect CLC indoor and outdoor living spaces. The courtyard has therapeutic, homelike amenities
including multiple flower gardens, trees and shrubs, a water feature, a
gazebo for small performances and activities, paths, seating areas and
wheelchair-accessible flower beds.

The Grainger Foundation and AMVETS donated funds to help pay for the
project, which symbolizes the culture change in the way the Department
of Veterans Affairs provides health care for long-term residents
(Veterans and service members) of what typically were referred to as
nursing homes. CLC residents at Lovell FHCC - some who reside in new
group homes on the grounds of Lovell FHCC in North Chicago - can now
take advantage of many home-like spaces both indoors and out. More