John Boyd (military strategist)

John Richard Boyd (January 23, 1927 – March 9, 1997) was a United States Air Force fighter pilot and Pentagon consultant during the second half of the 20th century. His theories have been highly influential in military, business, and litigation strategies and planning.

As part of the Fighter Mafia, Boyd inspired the Lightweight Fighter program (LWF), which produced the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and preceded McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. Boyd, together with Thomas Christie, created the Energy–Maneuverability theory of aerial combat, which became the world standard for the design of fighter aircraft. He also developed the decision cycle known as the OODA loop, the process by which an entity reacts to an event.

Early life

Boyd was born on January 23, 1927, in Erie, Pennsylvania. He was one of five children born to Elsie Beyer Boyd and Hubert Boyd. Hubert was raised Catholic and Elsie was a German Presbyterian.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Boyd enlisted in the Army Air Forces on October 30, 1944, while he was still a junior in high school. After graduation, he completed his basic training and skill training as an aircraft turret mechanic during the waning months of World War II. From January 1946 to January 1947, Boyd served as a swimming instructor in Japan. He attained the rank of sergeant, and served in the Air Force Reserve until he graduated from college. He graduated from the University of Iowa in 1951 with a bachelor's degree in economics<ref>Coram 2002, p. 33.</ref> and later earned a second bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.<ref>Coram 2002, p. 154.</ref>

Air Force career

Boyd was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force following completion of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at the University of Iowa. On March 27, 1953, Boyd arrived in Korea as an F-86 Sabre pilot.<ref>Coram 2002, p. 49</ref> In the two months until the Korean War armistice on July 27, Boyd flew 22 missions in F-86 Sabres, in which he did not fire his guns or score a kill.<ref>Template:Cite web,</ref> After his service in Korea, he was invited to attend the Fighter Weapons School (FWS). Boyd attended the school and graduated at the top of his class. Upon graduation, he was invited to stay at the FWS as an instructor. He became head of the Academic Section and wrote the tactics manual for the school.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref> Boyd was brought to the Pentagon by Major General Arthur C. Agan Jr. to do mathematical analysis that would support the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle program in order to pass the Office of the Secretary of Defense's systems analysis process.<ref> Michel 2006, pp. 77–78. </ref> Template:External media

He was dubbed "Forty Second Boyd" for his standing bet as an instructor pilot that beginning from a position of disadvantage, he could defeat any opposing pilot in air combat maneuvering in less than 40 seconds. According to his biographer, Robert Coram, Boyd was also known at different points of his career as "The Mad Major" for the intensity of his passions, as "Genghis John" for his confrontational style of interpersonal discussion, and as the "Ghetto Colonel" for his spartan lifestyle.<ref name="trib">Hillaker, Harry. "Tribute To John R. Boyd." Code One Magazine, July 1997.</ref>

During the Vietnam War, he served as Vice Commander of Task Force Alpha and as Commander of the 56th Combat Support Group at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand from April 1972 to April 1973.

Military theories

In the early 1960s, Boyd, together with Thomas Christie, a civilian mathematician, created the energy–maneuverability theory, or E-M theory, of aerial combat. A legendary maverick by reputation,<ref>Coram 2002, p. 156.</ref> Boyd was said to have stolen the IBM 704 computer time to do the millions of calculations necessary to prove the theory. A civilian employee had previously barred Boyd from performing the calculations, but Thomas P. Christie provided Boyd a project number. An investigating inspector general commended Boyd and his computer work.<ref>Coram, Robert. "Interview (Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art of War)" C-SPAN video. Retrieved November 29, 2012.</ref> E-M theory became the world standard for the design of fighter aircraft. The Air Force's FX project (subsequently the F-15) was then floundering, but Boyd's deployment orders to Vietnam were canceled, and he was brought to the Pentagon to redo the tradeoff studies according to E-M theory. His work helped save the project from being a costly dud even though its final product was larger and heavier than he had desired.<ref>Coram 2002, pp. 157-8.</ref>

With Colonel Everest Riccioni and Pierre Sprey, Boyd formed a small advocacy group within Headquarters USAF that dubbed itself the "Fighter Mafia."<ref>Burton 1993 Template:Page needed</ref> Riccioni was an Air Force fighter pilot assigned to a staff position in Research and Development, and Sprey was a civilian statistician working in systems analysis. While assigned to working on the beginnings of the F-15, then called the Blue Bird, Boyd disagreed with the direction the program was going and proposed an alternative "Red Bird". The concept was for a clear-weather air-to-air-only fighter with a top speed of Mach 1.6, rather than the Blue Bird's Mach 2.5+. The top speed would be sacrificed for lower weight (and therefore better maneuverability and lower cost). Both Boyd and Sprey also argued against an active radar and radar-guided missiles, and they proposed the concept to Air Staff. The proposal went unheeded, and there were no changes to the Blue Bird.<ref> Michel 2006 </ref><ref> Coram 2002, p. 154. </ref>

The Secretary of Defense, attracted by the idea of a low cost fighter, gave funding to Riccioni for a study project on the Lightweight Fighter program (LWF), which became the F-16. Both the Department of Defense and the Air Force went ahead with the program and stipulated a "design to cost" basis no more than $3 million per copy over 300 aircraft. The USAF considered the idea of a "hi-lo" mix force structure and expanded the LWF program. The program soon went against the Fighter Mafia's vision since it was not the stripped-down air-to-air specialist that they had envisioned but a heavier multi-role fighter-bomber with advanced avionics, an active radar, and radar-guided missiles.<ref> Michel 2006 </ref> Harry Hillaker, an F-16 designer, remarked that he would have designed the plane differently if he had known that it would become a multi mission aircraft.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Boyd is credited for largely developing the strategy for the invasion of Iraq in the Gulf War of 1991. In 1981, Boyd had presented his briefing, Patterns of Conflict, to US Representative Richard "Dick" Cheney.<ref name = "coram">Coram 2002, p. 355.</ref> By 1990, Boyd had moved to Florida because of declining health, but Cheney, now Defense Secretary in the George H. W. Bush administration, called Boyd back to work on the plans for Operation Desert Storm.<ref name="coram 422-4">Coram 2002, pp. 422–424.</ref><ref name="ford pp. 23-4">Ford 2010, pp. 23–24.</ref> Boyd had substantial influence on the ultimate "left hook" design of the plan.<ref name="wheeler">Wheeler and Korb 2007, p. 87.</ref>

In a letter to the editor of Inside the Pentagon, the former Commandant of the Marine Corps General Charles C. Krulak is quoted as saying, "The Iraqi army collapsed morally and intellectually under the onslaught of American and Coalition forces. John Boyd was an architect of that victory as surely as if he'd commanded a fighter wing or a maneuver division in the desert."<ref>Hammond 2001, p. 3.</ref>

OODA loop

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The OODA loop

Template:Main Based on his experiences in Thailand during the Vietnam War, Boyd conjectured that that the attrition-firepower model of warfare (prevalent since the Industrial Revolution) would become less important in future conflicts, and the ability to rapidly and accurately acquire and act on information would grow in importance.<ref name="Lock-Pullan">Template:Cite book</ref> In the early 1970s, he developed these observations into a key concept called the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act, repeat), a decision making cycle that provided an entity (either an individual or an organization) with foreseeable and planned responses to external events.<ref name="Lock-Pullan"/> The OODA loop has since been used as the core for a theory of litigation strategy that unifies the use of cognitive science and game theory to shape the actions of witnesses and opposing counsel.<ref>Dreier 2012, pp. 74–85.</ref> It has also been proposed as a tool for work-based learning and management education.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Aerial Attack Study

Boyd also served to revolutionize air-to-air combat in that he was the author of the Aerial Attack Study, which became the official tactics manual for fighter aircraft. Boyd changed how pilots thought; prior to his tactics manual, pilots had thought that air-to-air combat was far too complex to ever be fully understood. With the release of the Aerial Attack Study, pilots realized that the high-stakes death dance of aerial combat was solved.<ref>Coram 2002, p. 114</ref> Boyd said that a pilot going into aerial combat must know two things: the position of the enemy and the velocity of the enemy. Given the velocity of an enemy, a pilot can decide what the enemy can do. When a pilot knows what maneuvers the enemy can perform, he can then decide how to counter any of the other pilot's actions.<ref>Coram 2002, p. 115</ref>

Military reform

Boyd gave testimony to Congress about the status of military reform after Operation Desert Storm.<ref>Schwellenbach, Nick. "Air Force Colonel John Boyd's 1991 House Armed Services Committee Testimony." U.S. Project On Government Oversight, March 26, 2011. Retrieved: September 7, 2011.</ref>

Maneuver warfare and Marines

In January 1980 Boyd gave his briefing Patterns of Conflict at the US Marines AWS (Amphibious Warfare School), which led to the instructor, Michael Wyly, and Boyd changing the curriculum. That was with the blessing of General Trainor, who later asked Wyly to write a new tactics manual for the Marines.<ref name="coram p. 382">Coram 2002, p. 382.</ref>

Wyly, along with Pierre Sprey, Raymond J. "Ray" Leopold, Franklin "Chuck" Spinney, Jim Burton, and Tom Christie, were described by writer Coram as Boyd's "acolytes".<ref name="coram p. 182">Coram 2002, p. 182.</ref>

Later career

At his retirement in 1975, Boyd was awarded the prestigious Harold Brown Award by the US Air Force.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Death

Boyd died of cancer in Florida on March 9, 1997, at age 70. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on March 20, 1997.<ref name="trib" /> His burial site is Section 60, Gravesite 3660.<ref> Coram 2002, Prologue.</ref>

Awards and decorations

During his lengthy career, Boyd earned many decorations, including:

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USAF Command Pilot Badge
Legion of Merit w/ 3 bronze oak leaf clusters						Air Medal w/ 2 bronze oak leaf clusters
Air Force Commendation Medal				Army Commendation Medal				Air Force Presidential Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award w/ Combat "V"				Army Good Conduct Medal				American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal				World War II Victory Medal				Army of Occupation Medal w/ 'Japan' clasp
National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 bronze service star				Korean Service Medal w/ 2 bronze campaign stars				Vietnam Service Medal w/ 1 bronze campaign star
Air Force Longevity Service Award w/ 1 silver oak leaf cluster				Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation				Vietnam Gallantry Cross
United Nations Service Medal for Korea				Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal				Korean War Service Medal

References

Bibliography

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• Template:Cite book Contains "Destruction and Creation".
• Template:Cite book Uses the OODA Loop as a core construct for a litigation strategy system unifying psychology, systems theory, game theory and other concepts from military science.
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• Template:Cite book An explanation of Boyd's ideas.
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• Template:Cite book Based on John Boyd's theories.
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• Template:Cite thesis
• Template:Cite book Aims to provide a better understanding of Boyd's ideas concerning conflict and military strategy. Contains a full description and explanation of all of his presentations. Takes reader beyond rapid OODA loop idea and demonstrates direct influence on development of Network Centric Warfare and Fourth Generation Warfare. Argues Boyd is first postmodern strategist.
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• Robinson, Stephen. The Blind Strategist: John Boyd and the American Art of War (2021) excerpt
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External links

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• Ciampaglia |Giuseppe, John Boyd dalla Fighter Mafia allo OODA Loop, publisher = autore,2024, Roma Italy