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.

Workers condition the soil at the Barry M. Goldwater Range along the U.S.-Mexico border, near Yuma, Arizona, Feb. 25, 2020.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division

Video by Jay Woods

Feb. 25, 2020 | 0:35

Workers condition the soil at the Barry M. Goldwater Range along the U.S.-Mexico border, near Yuma, Arizona, Feb. 25, 2020. Once the soil has been conditioned border barrier panels will be erected. USACE is providing direction and oversight for Department of Defense (DOD)-funded construction of border barrier projects from California to Texas. These projects are being executed by USACE, as directed through the U.S. Army by the Secretary of Defense, in response to the Presidential national emergency declaration dated Feb. 15, 2019, requiring the use of the armed forces and authorizing the use of Title 10, U.S. Code, § 2808.
(Some personal and corporate identifiable markings have been masked for privacy reasons. No one in this photo crossed the international border). More