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.

Webbers Falls Barge Removal

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District

Video by Brannen Parrish

Aug. 27, 2019 | 1:31

Salvage crews prepare a barge for removal from Webbers Falls Lock and Dam 16 near Gore, Oklahoma, August 27. Crews were able to remove one of the barges which was blocking four gates and preventing the Tulsa District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from lowering four of the gates on the dam. Two barges came unmoored during the May 2019 flood in Oklahoma and struck Webbers Falls Dam on May 23. The barges are being removed by McKinney Salvage and Heavy Lift, Inc which was hired by the barge operator.
Webbers Falls Lock and Dam primarily facilitates navigation by managing the pool on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System which allows commerce through shipping on the Arkansas River from Oklahoma to the Mississippi River. More