The Department of the Air Force is establishing a new office to advance the operational imperatives and address the urgent need for rapid modernization in the face of emerging challenges posed by the era of “Great Power Competition.”
The Integrated Capabilities Office (ICO), which Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall officially stood up on July 19, “seeks to institutionalize the speed, agility, and rapid innovation that the Operational Imperatives have brought to the force,” according to the service branch.
The Operational Imperatives, which Kendall announced in March 2022, are critical areas the service branch believes require coordinated focus and investment to swiftly provide “meaningful operational capability to the warfighter.”
The Operational Imperatives include space order of battle, operationally focused Advanced Battle Management System, moving target engagement, tactical air dominance, resilient basing, global strike, and readiness to deploy and fight.
Many of the current Operational Imperatives will graduate to existing programs of record and stakeholder teams.
“The Integrated Capabilities Office will directly support the Department of the Air Force senior leadership team as we develop our integrated modernization plans for the Air Force and Space Force,” Kendall said in a statement.
The ICO will coordinate agile Integrated Development Campaign Teams, which will be led by operational experts from the newly established U.S. Space Force Space Futures Command and the U.S. Air Force Integrated Capabilities Command, alongside acquisition specialists from the Air Force Materiel Command’s Integrated Development Office and Space Force acquisition entities.
While primarily serving an advisory role, the ICO will maintain direct access to the secretary and senior leadership, enabling it to make collaborative and unfiltered recommendations to ensure emerging capability opportunities are effectively represented within the enterprise.
The ICO is on schedule to be fully staffed and resourced by the end of 2024.
