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 Tech. Sgt. Nicole Wright

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146 CRF (Contingency Response Flight) conducts attack exercise at Sentry South 26-2

146 Airlift Wing, California Air National Guard

March 3, 2026 | 4:26

EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE B-Roll of 146th Contingency Response Flight (CRF), California Air National Guard, training in an attack scenario with the 136th CRF, Texas Air National Guard, and the 156th Contingency ResponseGroup, Puerto Rico Air National Guard, during exercise Sentry South 26-2 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, March 3, 2026. CRFs are specialized, rapidly deployable Air National Guard units from the 146th Airlift Wing, designed to quickly open, operate, and secure airfields for contingency, humanitarian, or exercise missions. Sentry South 26-2 is a large force employment exercise focused on major combat operations and joint maritime opportunities in a contested or degraded operational environment. Sentry South 26-2 applies joint and combined war fighting doctrine against realistic and robust enemy integrated threat systems, all while under safe and controlled conditions. U.S. National Guard video by Tech. Sgt. Nicole Wright, 146th Airlift Wing, California