Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has been working on a plan since September called “Reoptimizing for Great Power Competition.” Those who spoke to POLITICO — one Space Force official, three congressional aides and two Air Force advisers — were granted anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public. Everyone has been briefed on the project.
“It’s going to be a really big deal,” said one adviser familiar with the effort who is regularly briefed on the Pentagon’s modernization plans.
The Air Force is scheduled to announce the plan at the Air Force Space Force Association Warfare Symposium in Colorado on February 12th. Two advisers said many of the details remain in flux as complex base issues are resolved and tensions between some of the commanding uniformed officers and civilians are resolved.
Kendall himself spoke at AFA’s annual conference in September when he said the organization was working on a “fundamental” review of Air Force readiness to “re-optimize” the service in preparation for war. He mentioned plans for reorganization. He said at the time that plans should be completed by January.
Two Air Force spokespeople confirmed that changes were in the works, but declined to provide further details. Officials said in a statement that the realignment was necessary due to “significant and dangerous changes in the strategic environment,” and that the service would therefore launch “a major effort to reoptimize the Department of the Air Force.” It is said that it became
Lt. Gen. Michael Getlein, commander of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, previewed some of the upcoming changes in a Dec. 13 conference speech. Under Kendall’s plan, the Air Force “is going to eliminate major command structures,” he said.
“Think about how fundamental that is to the way we fight today and the way we have always thought about the Air Force,” he said. “And we’re going to move away from what’s known as the majcom structure. That’s going to be a big change.”
Within hours, Getlin recanted, saying no final decision had been made.
But while his general outline is consistent with what Congressional staffers and Air Force advisers have explained to POLITICO, what he calls a “reoptimization” plan will continue to be refined over the coming weeks.
Kendall’s plan cuts to the heart of how the Air Force has organized itself for decades to streamline the service, while under a reporting structure that reports directly to the civilian secretary. It will integrate more analysis and planning at the top level.
The initiative aims to give the Air Force a boost in the civilian planning and budget analysis normally done by Pentagon officials. The changes will provide greater clarity on what the Air Force wants to buy and how it can buy it. Much of the work will be done by civilians, creating “significant tension between civilians and the blue suits” within the Air Force, one person familiar with the plan said.
“It’s actually much more complicated than creating a Space Force,” the official added.
Magicom and Airwing
The Air Force’s operational structure is built around nine major commands, commanded by three- and four-star generals, that organize the Air Force’s missions by function or region. For example, Air Mobility Command oversees airlift and refueling, and Pacific Air Forces provides forces to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
A working version of the plan would require some of these responsibilities to be aligned in some way, but the details have not yet been finalized.
For example, Kendall’s plan calls for the establishment of a Joint Capability Development Command, which would replace the Air Force Education and Training Command with Air Force Human Development Command overseeing all school and education activities. The Air Force is rebranding the command to educate airmen about their careers, and Air Combat Command will focus more on readiness, according to a congressional aide. New command names are subject to change over time.
This is the first major command change for the service since December 2019, when Air Force Space Command was redesignated as the interim headquarters of the Space Force.
At the airfield level, air wings are currently organized by aircraft type, but this may change depending on the version of the plan in circulation. Instead of having a wing of fighters and a wing of bombers, they would be mixed together, with a single wing carrying fighters, bombers and tankers, according to two Congressional staffers and an adviser. It is said that it will be possible. All three said the details were unclear.
An Air Force spokesperson said the vision for the air wing was not discussed among “senior leadership.”
The idea represents a throwback to the model used in the 1990s, when the Air Force rebuilt the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, into a “composite wing.”
Composite wings fly aircraft that can destroy enemy air defenses, participate in air-to-air combat, and refuel. He does all this under one chain of command rather than multiple. It is believed that having crews from different aircraft regularly train together will facilitate coordination and save time.
Composite wings were eventually reverted to all-fighter air wings due to funding issues. In today’s Air Force, the only time different types of aircraft come together is during various exercises.
“It didn’t work the last time the Air Force did this, so why should it be different now?” said one Congressional aide.
A new wing, two Congressional aides said, would likely combine planners focused on different aircraft types into the same unit and develop requirements with the big picture in mind. It is said to have a high level of sexuality.
“This is a good thing. Bomber planners will be able to sit across the table from fighter planners and see where the requirements overlap,” said the first Congressional aide. said.
hill reaction
Overall, it will likely take months, if not years, for Mr. Kendall’s measures to pass Congress and be implemented.
The reception on Capitol Hill and among Air Force officials is uncertain.
This is not the first time in recent years that a service has been completely overhauled with China in mind. In 2020, then-Marine Corps commander Gen. David Berger announced a sweeping reorganization of the Force, eliminating all tanks and traditional towed artillery in favor of truck-mounted rockets, drones, and precision weapons.・Announced the Design 2030 concept. The goal was to make the Corps lighter and faster, allowing it to island-hop in the Pacific.
The plan was rejected outright by a group of retired Marine generals who are still respected within the corps, and some in Congress were outraged by the idea. Mr. Berger faced withering criticism on his op-ed page and in meetings with Greybeard on the service. Despite the heat, Congress celebrated his reforms each year in an annual budget vote, ultimately vindicating his approach and rebuilding the Corps.
“It’s certainly something Kendall has been thinking about for a long time, and I think now is probably the right time to make a change like that, especially since we don’t know exactly how much time he’ll be in the seat. ” said one advice source. Air Force and someone familiar with the program’s efforts.
The first Air Force adviser familiar with the project agreed, adding that the Air Force “hasn’t had anything of this kind of scale” in decades.