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.

12 Space Warning Squadron personnel run through a training scenario

2D Audiovisual Squadron

Video by Senior Airman Kevyn Allen, Staff Sgt. Jourdan Barrons, Airman Tia Herring, Tech. Sgt. Duncan McElroy, Jon Zanone

Sept. 19, 2022 | 23:54

12th Space Warning Squadron (SWS) personnel run through a training scenario sequence. The 12th Space Warning Squadron (12 SWS) operates the Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR), formerly the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) - Site 1, at Thule Air Base, Greenland. 12 SWS is part of the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment network, which provides early warning of ballistic missile launches to National Command Authorities via the Missile Warning Center and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The 12 SWS has three missions: missile warning, missile defense, and space domain awareness. A 3-member crew executes the missile warning and missile defense missions by detecting and providing assessment data on Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and Sea-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) threatening the United States and/or Canada, in support of the Department of the Air Force Arctic Strategy and the National Defense Strategy. The 12 SWS secondary mission provides space surveillance data on earth-orbiting objects to the 18th Space Control Squadron at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, in support of United States Space Command's space control missions. Additionally, the unit also provides data to the National Space Defense Center (NSDC) and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). More

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“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.”

Air Force & Space Force announce sweeping changes to maintain superiority amid Great Power Competition

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