US Air Force to expand REFORPAC exercise in 2027 with more allies, joint forces

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The Air Force will incorporate its sister services and more allies into the next edition of its large-scale Pacific exercise, scheduled for spring 2027, a top general revealed July 27.

REFORPAC 2027: Building on a "Stepping Stone"

The first edition of Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC), held in summer 2025, was one of the service's biggest exercises in recent memory and served as the anchor of the larger Department-Level Exercise series. It featured approximately 300 aircraft across multiple locations in Japan, Guam, and elsewhere.

Despite that massive scale, Gen. Kevin B. Schneider described the 2025 exercise as a "stepping stone" for his command, Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), noting it was largely limited to U.S. Air Force personnel and platforms.

"It was largely USAF-focused in 2025. We're bringing more joint forces into it now that we've got one rep under our belt and we know what we're doing, and we're bringing more allies and partners into it as well," Schneider said at an event with AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

Schneider confirmed that planning for REFORPAC 2027 has accelerated.

"REFORPAC 2027 planning probably started about the day that we finished REFORPAC 2025. It is in earnest right now. We'll look to execute this the springtime of 2027," he said.

Origins and Strategic Context

Resolute Force Pacific emerged from the Department of the Air Force's "reoptimization" effort beginning in 2024, which aimed to pivot the Air Force and Space Force toward great power competition with adversaries such as China. While that initiative was later shelved following changes in department leadership and presidential administrations, officials retained the large-scale exercise. Schneider said in September 2025 that it provided key lessons on "large operations in contested, dynamic environments."

Although REFORPAC was described as a biennial event, Air Force leaders had said little about the 2027 edition—including its timing—until now.

"We have gone through a couple of the initial conferences," Schneider said of the planning. "We have briefed it to Pacific Command, and the combatant command is fully supportive and understanding of what it is that we're trying to do. So that is moving out, and really appreciate the team, both Air Force, joint force, and ally and partner teams, that are really going all in on this one."

Balancing Exercises with Readiness

While exercises like REFORPAC help the Air Force practice the large-scale operations necessary in a conflict with China or another adversary, they come with a cost to readiness, as Airmen and aircraft require time to prepare or recover.

"An exercise is a great way to build skill sets. We build interoperability, and there's a lot to be gained," Schneider said at AFA's Air, Space & Cyber Conference in 2024. "There's also a burn that's associated with exercises."

Any cost to readiness is receiving fresh scrutiny amid Air Force Secretary Troy Meink and Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach's drive to improve the service's readiness rates. At the Mitchell Institute, Schneider said he and his team are reviewing the dozens of exercises PACAF participates in annually to determine which are worthwhile.

"We do 45 of those in PACAF, give or take a couple every year, and that's a lot," Schneider explained.

"They're all valuable; they all have benefits. But we're taking a look at, what are the ones that are readiness gainers? What are the ones that are maybe not high on that list of building readiness for our Airmen? And then making some decisions to go, we're going to continue to do these; we're not going to do these; or we'll do these in reduced volume, just to make sure that we are preserving that readiness within our formations, so that we can be responsive to our commander at PACOM, as well as provide the Air Force options for other parts of the world."

Managing Global Demands

Schneider's reference to "other parts of the world" is particularly relevant given the large number of forces the Pentagon has deployed to the Middle East for operations against Iran—including dozens of fighters, bombers, tankers, and more.

"I think we've done a pretty good job of identifying amongst commanders where we're going to take risk or how we manage the risks as we prioritize efforts in the CENTCOM region right now, and what are those things that we are able to absorb as commanders elsewhere in the Air Force enterprise," Schneider said.

Prioritizing Critical Challenges

As PACAF considers how to prioritize exercises, Schneider said he will focus on those that address "the most critical, the most challenging, the most difficult" problems the Air Force faces, such as:

• Fifth-generation fighter tactics
• Large-scale command and control
• Long-range kill chains

One such exercise that took place...