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 Courtesy

What’s in your Kit, Spanish Dog Handler?

Natochannel

Aug. 26, 2019 | 0:54

The Military Emergencies Unit (Unidad Militar de Emergencias, UME) is a branch of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for providing disaster relief and emergency management. They’re part of NATO within the framework of NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre, or EADRCC. The Unit includes a canine team of specially trained search and rescue dogs to support in the recovery of casualties. In this clip, Private Rubén Suárez Valbuena, a dog handler with his dog Phantom, will show us what he carries in his backpack. The contents are specifically selected to enable him and the dog to deploy to natural disaster zones, such as floods, earthquakes, landslides, snow drifts, avalanches and other adverse meteorological phenomena, but also terrorist attacks, dangerous facilities, or nuclear, biological or chemical agents -- mainly in Spain but also abroad if needed. Filmed in northern Spain at the base of one of the emergency intervention battalions (Batallon de Intervención en Emergencias V or BIEM V), footage includes Private Rubén Suárez Valbuena and his dog Phantom, showing what he carries in his backpack.