OODA Loop/Boyd Cycle
“Unraveling the competition”/ Quick
Transients/ Quick Tempo (NOT JUST
SPEED!)/ Agility/ “So quick it is
disconcerting” (adversary over-reacts or
under-reacts)/ “Winners used tactics that
caused the enemy to unravel before the
fight” (NEVER HEAD TO HEAD)
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Fast Transients”
“Buttonhook turn” (YF16:
“could flick from one maneuver to
another faster than any aircraft”)
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Blitzkrieg is far more than lightning
thrusts that most people think of
when they hear the term; rather it was
all about high operational tempo
and the rapid exploitation of
opportunity.”/ “Arrange the mind of
the enemy”—T.E. Lawrence/
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a
bee”—Ali
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
F86 vs. MiG/Korea/10:1
Bubble canopy (360 degree view)
Full hydraulic controls (“The F86
driver could go from one maneuver to
another faster than the MiG driver”)
MiG: “faster in raw acceleration and
turning ability”; F86: “quicker in
changing maneuvers”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
USMC COL Mike Wyly: “kept
the enemy off-balance;
they knew Delta
Company [RVN] could
show up anywhere,
anytime”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“Maneuverists”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who
Changed the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“The stuff has got to be
implicit. If it is explicit,
you can’t do it fast
enough.”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
Eglin Flag: “100% AGAINST
ZERO DEFECTS”
“General, if you’re not having
accidents, your training program is
not what it should be. … You need
to kill some pilots.”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“To Be
somebody or to
Do something”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“If your boss demands
loyalty, give him integrity.
But if he demands
integrity, give him
loyalty.”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)
“White-wagon kill”
BOYD: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed
the Art of War (Robert Coram)