I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5231 

To direct the Secretary of the Air Force to develop a force design for 

the Air Force and Space Force. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 18, 2023 

Mr. BACON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Air Force to develop a force 

design for the Air Force and Space Force. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Department of the Air 

5 Force Future Force Design Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FUTURE FORCE DESIGN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 

7 THE AIR FORCE. 

8 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con9 gress that— 


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1 (1) the Department of the Air Force has made 

2 significant progress in organizing, training, and 

3 equipping the Air Force and Space Force to address 

4 the needs of the Joint Force and align with the cur5 rent National Defense Strategy and National Mili6 tary Strategy; and 

7 (2) to be prepared to effectively deter and de8 feat a peer adversary, the Department must address 

9 force design requirements that will enable equipment 

10 modernization, organizational restructure, and ca11 pacity adjustments to meet the challenges presented 

12 by the People’s Republic of China. 

13 (b) FORCE DESIGN REQUIRED.—Not later than Au14 gust 31, 2024, the Secretary of the Air Force shall develop 

15 a force design for the Air Force and Space Force projected 

16 through 2050. 

17 (c) ELEMENTS.—The force design under subsection 

18 (b) shall address— 

19 (1) the concepts, capabilities, and structural 

20 elements (including size and form) of the Air Force 

21 and Space Force that are necessary to ensure those 

22 forces effectively execute their core functions 

23 through 2050 in support of the National Defense 

24 Strategy and the National Military Strategy; 


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1 (2) force structure, including the development 

2 of capabilities (including platforms and systems) at 

3 the right level of capacity to address the challenges 

4 outlined by the National Defense Strategy and Na5 tional Military Strategy; 

6 (3) force composition, including recruitment 

7 and development of the human capital, effective dis8 tribution of forces in the total force and policies to 

9 increase career flexibility across the different compo10 nents; 

11 (4) organizational design, including develop12 ment of potential models to increase agility and 

13 operational effectiveness across the Air Force and 

14 Space Force; and 

15 (5) such other matters as the Secretary of the 

16 Air Force determines to be relevant. 

17 (d) INFORMATION TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 60 

18 days after completion of the force design required under 

19 subsection (b), the Secretary of the Air Force shall— 

20 (1) submit a summary of the force design to 

21 the congressional defense committees; and 

22 (2) provide to the congressional defense com23 mittees a briefing on the force design. 

24 (e) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE25 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional defense 


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1 committees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

2 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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