NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—Three words have dominated the conversation at the Air & Space Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference near Washington D.C. in recent years: “China, China, China.”
That phrase, frequently repeated by former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, was used to footstomp the need for increased funding and focus on major defense programs. Building drone wingmen, unveiling a long-range nuclear bomber and developing plans for the next-generation fighter jet were viewed as necessities to compete with near-peer threats—namely, China’s rapidly-developing military capabilities.
But at the conference this week, past messaging about the yearslong push for great power competition was replaced with frequent mentions of new administration priorities. And the ongoing multi-billion dollar modernization efforts received a new justification: they are now crucial to the new focus of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: defending the homeland and its hemisphere.
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, who took office four months ago, said the service can take on the wide variety of missions the new administration has spotlighted.
“Homeland defense pretty much captures all threats,” Meink told reporters Monday. “Pretty much covers everything in the systems that we need to do. We have to make sure that we cover that whole spectrum of threats to the country. There’s massive overlap in what we need to defend the homeland from the China-level threat, as we do in being able to protect some of our partners and allies overseas.”
Defense policy experts and military insiders, however, were alarmed—in part by the unclear guidance on which missions should be prioritized. More importantly, they wondered if there would be enough funding to cover the wide range of national security priorities highlighted by the new administration, from “Golden Dome” missile defense to conflicts with alleged narco-terrorism organizations.
“All of the services, including the Air Force, are missing the clear strategic guidance needed to make essential prioritization decisions as they reach the end game of the budget process and try to chart an organizational path forward,” a former defense official said.
While the former official attributed that to the lack of a National Defense Strategy, which is historically released in the fall, they added it also shows a lack of clear and united messaging from the military on what must be prioritized.
“What will be interesting to see is how definitive the new strategic guidance is; how much it shapes next year’s budget; and how consistent leadership is in aligning resources to strategy once it is signed,” the official added.
Meink, once a KC-135 Stratotanker navigator and instructor who last served as principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, does not seem to want to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor—who often unveiled major policy goals and insights from the podium of the defense conference.
In a 2022 keynote speech, Kendall debuted his seven operational imperatives: a list of priorities that served as a mission statement of sorts for the Department of the Air Force. In a 2024 speech at the conference, alongside Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin and Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman, the then-Air Force secretary released a list of 24 efforts and goals focused on “reoptimizing for Great Power Competition.”
While Meink’s keynote address did directly mention China several times and highlighted the military’s rapid pace of development, he also hedged his bets.
“It’s not just against China either. The president’s priorities: defend the homeland and maintain our dominance against all adversaries, particularly China.” Meink said. “Whether it’s the terrorist groups, whether it’s a full up China, we have to defend, we have to be innovative against all of those activities.”
Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute focused on defense budgeting, said taking on China and supporting the homeland require two very different strategies.
“You don’t project power to defend the homeland,” Harrison said. “If you want to deter China, you have to be able to project power, and that’s very different than having your forces home and having the type of capabilities that are just intended to operate behind the moat.”
When asked by reporters where he stood on the outstanding reoptimization efforts left on Kendall’s list, Meink said he hadn’t made any final calls on them.
“You don’t make organizational changes when you first come to the job,” Meink said, later adding “I know we’re getting close” to making decisions.
And when asked if he would have his own strategic vision, Meink offered little insight.
“I think a lot of the ideas that have been floated around, regardless where they came from, are important, right? I take a little bit of a different approach to that,” Meink said. “I’ll be honest, I’m not a big believer in the competition side of the house … you need to be able to win. Period.”
This year, defense spending saw a major influx of cash through the one-time reconciliation bill passed by Congress. It’s not clear if such funding would pass again. Meink acknowledged that trade offs might be necessary with some of the administration’s priorities.
“Money’s always a challenge, and we’re doing the trade-offs to support that entire range of missions,” Meink said. “There are always trade-offs.”
As the Department of the Air Force’s top civilian weighs those priorities, questions loom over who will be the next top uniformed leaders of the service.
Allvin very suddenly announced his retirement last month—marking the shortest tenure of an Air Force chief of staff since the 1990s and the latest casualty in a Pentagon leadership shakeup since Trump took office. Sources told Defense One general was replaced due to his focus on Kendall’s past reoptimization efforts.
When asked about the status of a replacement, Meink provided little detail but said he was confident they would find a suitable successor.
“We’re not going to not have a chief,” Meink said. “In the end, that has to work through the administration, but the bottom line is, we will not not have a chief. Gen. Allvin and I will make sure that we have a chief.”
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