Reoptimization for Great Power Competition

“I’m extremely proud of the Space Force and all the good it has accomplished. But, as good as we are, as much as we’ve done, as far as we’ve come, it’s not enough. We are not yet optimized for Great Power Competition.”

~ Chief of Space Operations
Gen. Chance Saltzman

The establishment of the U.S. Space Force was a direct response to threats arising from Great Power Competition in the space domain. Nevertheless, our legacy roots leave us sub-optimized for the security environment confronting us today, and we must finish fine-tuning the service to continue meeting its National Defense Strategy responsibilities

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.

The space domain is no longer benign; it has rapidly become congested and contested.

We must enhance our capabilities, develop Guardians for modern warfare, prepare for the high intensity fight, and strengthen our power projection to thrive and win in this new era of Great Power Competition.

Video by Sgt. Thomas Lamb

Joint Task Force- Civil Support Exercise Response

29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

April 27, 2024 | 2:14

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Seth Schoellhorn, the Joint Task Force- Civil Support Incident Support Team 1 Operations Officer, speaks about the notional response to injects at Vibrant Response 24 on Fort Carson, Colorado, April 27, 2024. Vibrant Response is an annual U.S. Northern Command directed command post exercise. As U.S. Northern Command's Joint Force Land Component Command, U.S. Army North is Vibrant Response 24's executive agent responsible for ensuring the training focuses on a simulated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) disaster scenario designed to validate U.S. Northern Command's CBRN Response Enterprise's ability to exercise short-notice and no-notice deployment of military forces at the request of civil authorities to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and mitigate property damage following a catastrophic CBRN event. (U.S. Army National Guard video by Sgt. Tom Lamb)