Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Department of the Air Force to pause all planning related to its “Re-Optimization for Great Power Competition” effort—a move that leaves a sweeping plan to transform the Air Force and Space Force in limbo.

Perhaps most prominently, the Air Force has paused work on Integrated Capabilities Command, the new organization meant to oversee the planning and requirements process for developing the service’s future systems.

A department spokesperson confirmed the order to Air & Space Forces Magazine.

“On Feb. 6, the Secretary of Defense directed the Department of the Air Force to pause all planning actions connected to its Re-Optimizing for Great Power Competition efforts,” the spokesperson said. “The planning pause remains in effect until a Senate-confirmed Secretary and Undersecretary of the Air Force are in place and have the opportunity to review the initiatives. The Department of the Air Force welcomes the opportunity for our new leaders to assess all ongoing actions and ensure compliance with DOD directives. We will issue clarifying guidance, as necessary.”

Air & Space Forces Magazine understands there was no memorandum directing the pause.

The directive raises dozens of questions about many of 24 “key decisions” the Department of the Air Force announced in February 2024, with then-Secretary Frank Kendall saying at the time that senior leadership had determined the department was not structured properly for “Great Power Competition”—a term coined under President Donald Trump’s first administration to describe how the Pentagon would seek to deter and counter China.

To “re-optimize,” the Air Force and Space Force embarked on a massive re-organization effort. The 24 key decisions included everything from the creation of Integrated Capabilities Command for the Air Force and Space Futures Command for the Space Force to a renewed emphasis on large-scale exercises starting with a massive one in the Pacific in summer 2025.

A defense official familiar with the pause order told Air & Space Forces Magazine that “readiness and lethality are at the core of both the Department of the Air Force’s efforts to realign to the threat environment and the new administration’s priorities. That is why everyone in the Department of the Air Force is fully onboard and welcomes the incoming civilian leadership team, once confirmed, reviewing not only the ‘why’ behind the warfighters and readiness initiatives, but also the considerable progress made to date. To be clear, the department is already actively moving out to implement the temporary planning pause.”

Some of the key decisions have already been put into action. The Air Force, for example, established a Warrant Officer Training School and has graduated its first new class of warrant officers in decades. The Space Force redesigned its career paths by creating an Officer Training Course that teaches every new officer the fundamentals of space, intelligence, and cyber operations instead of having them specialize right away. And the Secretariat of the Air Force established new organizations like an Integrated Capabilities Office and a secretive Office of Competitive Activities.

The Air Force spokesperson said that while planning has been paused, actions already taken do not have to be reversed, meaning those programs will continue.

On Feb. 11, a service official clarified that Resolute Force Pacific, the first of the large-scale exercises mentioned in the re-optimization, “is not impacted” by the pause. REFORPAC is meant to include some 300 aircraft, and planning has been ongoing for months, though leaders have suggested the scale may need to be tweaked if Congress does not pass a 2025 budget soon.

“REFORPAC is well-aligned with the Department of Defense’s priorities of enhancing warrior ethos and credible deterrence,” the official said.

There are many other decisions, however, that are now up in the air:

The future of Integrated Capabilities Command is in doubt. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin announced last summer the standup of a provisional Integrated Capabilities Command, with the goal to reach full operational capability sometime in 2025. That work is now paused.
Space Futures Command was announced a year ago as the fourth Space Force field command. As of last September, the Space Force suggested the command could still take a year to stand up. With a mission to focus on long-term needs and capabilities, planning for SFC is now on hold.
Air Force Materiel Command was preparing to re-organize and create new system “centers,” including an Information Dominance Systems Center and a Nuclear Systems Center. Those efforts, which were still in the planning stages, are apparently on hold.
Air Education & Training Command was preparing to become Airman Development Command in 2025, with new centers of excellence starting up and working toward full operational capability. Its future is now in question.
Air Forces Cyber was set to be elevated as a service component commander, out from under Air Combat Command. That has yet to happen and planning is likewise now paused.

How quickly these issues are resolved is uncertain, but realistically, it could take months for the new Department of the Air Force leadership team to get in place and address these questions. President Donald Trump nominated Troy E. Meink for Air Force Secretary and Matthew Lohmeier for Undersecretary, but both must be confirmed, and no hearings have been scheduled so far by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Nominees must clear the committee first and then be approved by the full Senate

Of 63 Defense Department positions requiring Senate confirmation, the White House has submitted 14 nominations, and only the Defense Secretary has been confirmed as of Feb. 10, according to the Washington Post’s nomination tracker. Meink and Lohmeier are among 12 nominees who must be screened by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

To date, no hearing has been scheduled. When then-President Joe Biden nominated Frank Kendall for the post four years ago, three months elapsed before his confirmation; four years earlier, in the first Trump administration, it took three and a half months to get former Rep. Heather Wilson through the confirmation process to become Secretary of the Air Force.

Pentagon Editor Chris Gordon contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated Feb. 11 with additional comment from the Air Force on Exercise Resolute Force Pacific.

Greg Hadley, Air & Space Forces Magazine.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

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Defense Secretary Orders Air Force to Pause All Reorganization Planning

Greg Hadley, Air & Space Forces Magazine