The shift from GWOT to Great Power Competition emphasized what change in strategy?

• A. Focus on sea control and countering A2/AD missiles in peer competition
• B. Expand purely carrier air campaigns
• C. Emphasize green-energy fuel
• D. De-emphasize surface ships

Answer: (A)

The shift to Great Power Competition changes naval strategy by focusing on maintaining freedom of movement at sea even when facing sophisticated rivals. In the GWOT era, the emphasis was on expeditionary land campaigns, counterinsurgency, and using air power to strike from a distance. Now the challenge is peer competitors who field integrated anti-access/area denial networks, long-range missiles, and dense air defenses that can threaten ships operating far from home.

So the best choice centers on ensuring sea control and finding ways to counter these A2/AD capabilities in a peer competition. That means building and integrating forces that can project power, survive contested environments, and deny adversaries the ability to block or disrupt operations near critical sea lanes. The other options don’t capture that strategic pivot: expanding solely carrier air campaigns is too narrow for a contested maritime theater; green-energy fuel, while important logistically, isn’t the strategic shift at the heart of Great Power Competition; and de-emphasizing surface ships would undermine the capability to control the sea and deter adversaries with a capable navy.