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.

Wetlands Regulatory Assistance Program

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center

Video by Marisa Gaona, Desiree Kapler

Jan. 18, 2023 | 8:36

The Wetlands Regulatory Assistance Program (WRAP) is a research and development program which connects the power of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to the people, policies, and practices of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Regulatory Program. Through the multi-disciplinary expertise of ERDC's seven laboratories, WRAP provides solutions to the unique science, engineering, and technical challenges of the USACE Regulatory Program by developing products and tools to accelerate, revolutionize, and enhance Regulatory decision-making.

WRAP provides technical and technological support in seven focus areas, including: Wetland Delineation Science, Stream Sciences, Mitigation Science, Assessment Methodologies, the National Wetland Plant List, Technology Transfer, and Training.

Through the development of innovative tools, technologies, and methodologies, WRAP accelerates permitting timelines and programmatic efficiencies with these rapid, user-friendly decision-making tools, and transfers those technologies to USACE Regulators, Federal and State partners, and the public through tech transfer opportunities, public outreach, and training. WRAP also reduces decision risk and promotes transparent, consistent, predictable, repeatable, and reliable decisions by injecting science into the decision-making process and providing ongoing, rapid-response technical support in all components and stages of the permitting process. More