Editing John Boyd (military strategist) (section)

==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 [[North American F-86 Sabre|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>{{cite web |last1=Hankins |first1=Dr. Michael | title=A Discourse on John Boyd: A Brief Summary of the US Air Force's Most Controversial Pilot and Thinker |url=https://balloonstodrones.com/2018/08/22/a-discourse-on-john-boyd-a-brief-summary-of-the-us-air-forces-most-controversial-pilot-and-thinker/comment-page-1/ |website=From Balloons To Drones: Air Power Throughout The Ages |access-date=17 October 2023}},</ref> After his service in Korea, he was invited to attend the [[USAF Weapons School|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>{{Cite thesis|page=297 |last=Michel |first=Col. Marshall III |date=December 15, 2006 |title=The Revolt of the Majors: How the Air Force Changed After Vietnam (and Saved the World) |url=http://etd.auburn.edu/handle/10415/595 |format=PDF/Text |type=Ph.D. |place=Auburn, Al. |publisher=Auburn University}}</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>
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?158365-1/boyd-fighter-pilot-changed-art-war ''Booknotes'' interview with Robert Coram on ''Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War'', January 26, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]}}

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 manoeuvring|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 Khan|Genghis]] John" for his confrontational style of interpersonal discussion, and as the "[[Ghetto]] Colonel" for his spartan lifestyle.<ref name="trib">Hillaker, Harry. [http://www.codeonemagazine.com/f16_article.html?item_id=156 "Tribute To John R. Boyd."] ''Code One Magazine,'' July 1997.</ref>

During the [[Vietnam War]], he served as Vice Commander of [[Operation Igloo White|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.