USAF restructures strategy, design and requirements directorate

The Department of the Air Force has folded the core functions of the Integrated Capabilities Command (Provisional) into Headquarters Air Force, implementing on April 1 a long-planned restructuring of its Strategy, Design and Requirements directorate (A5/7) aimed at speeding modernization and tightening alignment between strategy, force design and requirements.

Announced in February by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, the revamped A5/7 is now positioned as a single, enterprise-level hub with authority and proximity to drive faster, more cohesive decisions across the service’s modernization portfolio. Air Force leaders say the choice to consolidate ICC(P) functions within the Air Staff—rather than stand up a new major command—streamlines capability development and reduces duplication while strengthening coordination with stakeholders across the department.

“By embedding these functions within the Air Staff, we are better positioned to connect strategy to requirements and resourcing, accelerating the delivery of combat power to the warfighter,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach.

A centerpiece of the overhaul is a new Chief Modernization Officer charged with synchronizing efforts across four mission areas: force design; mission integration and mission threads; capability development and requirements; and modernization investment prioritization. The Air Force did not announce who will fill the role.

Officials said planners from both A5/7 and ICC(P) helped shape the transition to maintain continuity of operations, describing the move as a direct support to ongoing acquisition transformation and requirements reform efforts. By tightening the linkages among force design, requirements and resourcing, the service aims to compress timelines from concept to combat capability, improve responsiveness to emerging threats and ensure investments generate maximum combat effect.

“The transformation of our organization reflects a deliberate shift toward a more integrated modernization enterprise – one that ensures the capabilities developed today are informed by force design, resourced effectively and delivered at the pace required for future conflict,” Maj. Gen. Christopher J. Niemi, Military Deputy, Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Force Futures.

The ICC(P) was provisionally established as part of an earlier push to better integrate capability development across mission portfolios. With the new structure in place, Air Force leaders contend the enterprise approach from the Air Staff will tighten governance and accelerate delivery without adding another layer of command.