By the late 1970s the U.S. military focus was shifting away from Southeast Asia and toward supporting NATO in Europe. Department of Defense leadership mandated capability to rapidly reinforce Europe while also dispatching forces to deal simultaneous crises in other parts of the world. With this direction MAC decided to renew its emphasis on airdrop procedures as a means of rapid delivery. MAC leadership again considered a competition format as an excellent way to gauge the level of proficiency and refine airdrop techniques.