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Old, but valid. Boyd basically postulated that the unit which can assess and react to the situation more quickly would prevail in combat. He flew F-86s against MIGs in Korea. The F-86 was, according to all standards, an inferior aircraft: slower, it couldn't climb as high, etc. However, they consistently shot down the MIGs in air to air combat. Boyd discovered that the Sabre was better at transitioning from one maneuver to the next. He created a model, called the OODA loop, to explain it. In combat, you must observe the situation, orient yourself to it, decide on a course of action, and act - then the iterative process begins again. The combatant who can cycle through the process fastest will cause his opponent to react to what he was doing one or more cycles previously. Thus, the faster cycle time accrues better and better cumulative advantage in tactical position. It's a powerful model, and Boyd is read by every great strategist in the U.S. military today. His ideas are behind the AirLand Battle Doctrine that destroyed Iraq the last time.

11 March 1997

To the Editor:

I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Colonel John Boyd, USAF (Ret). How does one begin to pay homage to a warrior like John Boyd? He was a towering intellect who made unsurpassed contributions to the American art of war. Indeed, he was one of the central architects in the reform of military thought which swept the services, and in particular the Marine Corps, in the 1980’s. From John Boyd we learned about competitive decision making on the battlefield—compressing time, using time as an ally. Thousands of officers in all our services knew John Boyd by his work on what was to be known as the Boyd Cycle or OODA Loop. His writings and his lectures had a fundamental impact on the curriculum of virtually every professional military education program in the United States—and on many abroad. In this way, he touched so many lives, many of them destined to ascend to the highest levels of military and civilian leadership.

Those of us who knew John Boyd the man knew him as a man of character and integrity. His life and values were shaped by a selfless dedication to Country and Service, by the crucible of war, and by an unrelenting love of study. He was the quintessential soldier-scholar—a man whose jovial, outgoing exterior belied the vastness of his knowledge and the power of his intellect. I was in awe of him, not just for the potential of his future contributions but for what he stood for as an officer, a citizen, and as a man.

As I write this, my mind wanders back to that morning in February, 1991, when the military might of the United States sliced violently into the Iraqi positions in Kuwait. Bludgeoned from the air nearly round the clock for six weeks, paralyzed by the speed and ferocity of the attack. 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. His thinking, his theories, his larger than life influence, were there with us in Desert Storm. He must have been proud of what his efforts wrought.

So, how does one pay homage to a man like John Boyd? Perhaps best by remembering that Colonel Boyd never sought the acclaim won him by his thinking. He only wanted to make a difference in the next war … and he did. That ancient book of wisdom—Proverbs—sums up John’s contribution to his nation: " A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge adds to his strength; for by wise guidance you will wage your war, and there is victory in a multitude of counselors."* I, and his Corps of Marines, will miss our counselor terribly.

Sincerely,

* Proverbs 24:5-6

C.C. Krulak General,
U. S. Marine Corps
Commandant of the Marine Corps¹

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