Air Force and Space Force officials are reportedly overhauling their structures to ready troops for competition with China, warning, "We are out of time."
Military.com reported the effort includes bringing back warrant officers, and making changes to training to address China's preparations for war in the Pacific — and potentially, against the U.S. military.
"We are out of time," Department of Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday in Aurora, Colorado, Military.com reported.
"Why do I say that?" he said. "It's not that I enjoy sounding like a broken record. It's because, for at least two decades, China has been building a military that is designed, purpose-built, to deter and defeat the United States if we intervene in the western Pacific."
Kendall and other officials — including Air Force Chief of Staff David Allvin — unveiled 16 changes for the Air Force, five for the Space Force and three for the Department of the Air Force.
Some changes are short term and set for completion in a year, while a majority are renaming and rebranding efforts aimed at "great power competition" — escalating defense spending, operational strategy, and overall resources against adversaries, particularly China, the outlet reported.
Allvin told the outlet that bringing back warrant officers, for example, is aimed at having cyber and information technology-focused airmen who want to "code for their country."
He added the service also wants to "upgrade and advance the cadet experience" for ROTC and Air Force Academy students to "lead in a complex environment" to take on China.
"Xi Jinping has told his military to be ready to take Taiwan by force by 2027, even if the U.S. intervenes," Kendall said of China's president, the outlet reported. "Freshmen at both the Air Force Academy and those entering ROTC units will be commissioned in 2027."
Other proposed changes include refocusing training overall to create "mission-ready airmen" and standards for Space Force Guardians that "reflect operations under contested conditions instead of a benign environment," the outlet reported.
"We have nothing in the '24 or '25 budget for any of these changes," Kendell said, Military.com reported. "There's a possibility that we'll have some funds in '26."
Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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