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NousDefionsDoc
03-15-2005, 16:11
John Boyd and American Security by Grant T. Hammond Smithsonian Books 2001.

Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/158834178X/qid=1110924859/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-8695478-7427043?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

I am only halfway through it and it is already worth the price of admission. What a great story of an amazing man.

Roguish Lawyer
03-15-2005, 21:23
John Boyd and American Security by Grant T. Hammond Smithsonian Books 2001.

Amazon Link (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/158834178X/qid=1110924859/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-8695478-7427043?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

I am only halfway through it and it is already worth the price of admission. What a great story of an amazing man.

Does the author get inside Boyd's OODA Loop?

NousDefionsDoc
03-15-2005, 21:35
NOBODY got inside Col. Boyd's Loop.

I am about halfway and the looping has begun. The interesting part is how he got there. The presentation was actually something like 13 hours long.

GTRich
03-15-2005, 22:02
I don't know if you have read the Boyd's biography Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316796883/qid=1110945515/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/102-2747840-1725768) but I thought it was a worthwhile read. Apparently, he was asked by the aide to a general officer to deliver the "executive summary" of the briefing but Boyd just flat refused, said give it all or not at all. The general decieded to sit through it.

Not to hijack your thread, but did/does the OODA loop change anything about how you or your unit operates? Does it change your perception of how others operate?

NousDefionsDoc
03-15-2005, 22:17
I actually looked at that one first. I asked around and was told that Mind of War had more about The Loop, so I went with it.

That refusal is in Mind of War as well. From what I read, VP Cheney has received the briefing.

I don't have a unit anymore. I don't know that it changes much about the way to operate. I think we always kind of did it instinctively. But it certainly makes it easier to teach the "whys" of why we do things the way we do. I think it is easier to understand than Sun Tzu, Jomini or even Clausewitz. It is elegant in its simplicity, which makes it easier for the average Joe to understand. And his being American certainly doesn't hurt.

When I was in a suit, the business world actually did quite a bit of this, mostly with safety. It varied by name and details from company to company, but it was the Loop.

I think you have to be at a certain minimum maturity level before this kind of information really gets interesting. I know when I was a young Buck Sergeant on an A Team, I couldn't have cared less about it. Now I find it fascinating, especially the "Orientation" cloud. The military has always affected this particular piece. Or tried to. Rules of the Regiment and all that. But I think we could do better. And I think that particular piece may be the most untapped of the process. Or at least the area capable of greatest change.

Anyway, the whole thing was designed to give an edge in high speed combat. I think it is an excellent fit for Spec Ops and well worth investing the time to study. For the intelligence world as well.