# Good Article on USAF Colonel John Boyd **URL:** \ **Category:** Maritime Training & Licensing\ **Created:** [June 23, 2025, 10:40am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840 "2025-06-23T10:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 10:40am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/1 "2025-06-23T10:40:16Z")
Col Boyd is known to some only for his OODA loop model to the point where it has become just a buzzword for many. The OODA loop was mentioned briefly in the leadership class I took. This article is a short summary of Boyd and his work and is one of the best ones I’ve read. [John Boyd: The Subversive Strategist](https://www.beyondwasteland.net/p/john-boyd-the-subversive-strategist) by Kevin Batcho From the article: _“Creative, reformist, intellectual yet grounded in reality, Boyd disdained incompetent leadership.”_ I’ve also found this interesting. [The Personal Papers of Colonel John R. Boyd (USAF)](https://slightlyeastofnew.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/the-personal-papers-of-col-john-boyd-part-ii.pdf). Boyd called himself a retired pilot that read a lot and he wasn’t kidding. The list includes books on political theory, philosophy, math and science, the Cold War, military hardware, etc. Some books on Boyd: [Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War](https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed/dp/0316796883?tag=gcaptaincom-20) - Robert Coram [The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security](https://www.amazon.com/Mind-War-John-American-Security/dp/158834178X/ref=asc_df_158834178X?tag=gcaptaincom-20) - Grant T Hammond [Science, Strategy and War (Strategy and History)](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Strategy-War-Strategic-History/dp/0415459524?tag=gcaptaincom-20) - Frans Osinga Here’s a photo of my dog-eared copy of “The Mind of War” ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/gcaptain_maritime_forum/original/3X/8/a/8af62aaab62f37edd83657e1500ab58508b67a77.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![spowiednick](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/spowiednick/32/35668_2.png) [@spowiednick](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/spowiednick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 12:15pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/2 "2025-06-23T12:15:59Z")
THX. > [@Kennebec\_Captain](#): > > [Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War](https://www.amazon.com/Boyd-Fighter-Pilot-Who-Changed/dp/0316796883?tag=gcaptaincom-20) Have already grabbed above. ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 12:25pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/3 "2025-06-23T12:25:01Z")
Good stuff KC, I only had time to read the first link but will get to the others when I have time. The first article said Boyd built on the von Schlieffen Plan & I can see that. But his OOAD Loop idea sounds similar to Erich Hartmanns, (the most successful fighter pilot of WW2) “See-Decide-Attack-Break” strategy. I’m curious to see if the others articles also give credit to Hartmann as they did von Schlieffen? > **[Erich Hartmann](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Hartmann)** > > Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial combat on 825 separate occasions. He was credited with shooting down a total of 352 Allied aircraft: 345 Soviet and 7 American while serving with the Luftwaffe. During his career, Hartmann was forced to crash-land his fighter 16 times after either mechanical fail Ha... ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Seadog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/67e7ee/32.png) [@Chief\_Seadog](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Chief_Seadog)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 12:25pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/4 "2025-06-23T12:25:56Z")
A very interesting biography indeed. On one hand absolutely brilliant, on the other a disaster. On personal level, Boyd was described as, “\* ill-mannered, he was unkempt, loud, opinionated, intolerant of anyone who disagreed with him, he had the table manners of a five-year old, he was profane, abrasive, he was a terrible father and a worse husband.\* ” ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/5 "2025-06-23T13:46:23Z")
As much as Boyd read it’s certainly possible, maybe even likely. Unlike Hartmann’s however Boyd’s loop is more like [Double-loop learning](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-loop_learning) in that the “orientation” is modified with each loop as the situation changes. ---
**Author:** ![Sand\_Pebble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Sand\_Pebble](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Sand_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/6 "2025-06-23T14:24:01Z")
> [@Kennebec\_Captain](#): > > Double-loop learning in that the “orientation” is modified with each loop as the situation changes. This is true. And I don’t think Hartmann ever modified his, “See-Decide-Attack-Break” strategy for anything except for aerial combat while Boyd seemed to spread his out to encompass war strategy, business, leadership etc.. From what I read of Hartmann, he always broke & started back over when safely out of the battle zone so that was kind of a loop? He always went after the low fruit the same as the lion goes after the slowest gazelle then run away. He said he never engaged unless he was near certain he could get a victory. He wasn’t known for dogfighting, more for shooting bad or unfortunate Allied pilots out of the air. An odd thing about Hartmann & his strategy. I don’t remember the first time I read about him but the last time was overhearing about him on a random YouTube/Podcast my kid was listening to about video gaming? Those video gamming nerds are using WW2 strategies to rack up points & stay a live in video games? ---
**Author:** ![renoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@renoun](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/renoun)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/7 "2025-06-24T01:20:41Z")
The Boyde OODA loop has obvious application to seamanship and leadership afloat. He’s also frequently cited in discussions about self defense in non-military settings. ---
**Author:** ![Kennebec\_Captain](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.gcaptain.com/kennebec_captain/32/13_2.png) [@Kennebec\_Captain](https://forum.gcaptain.com/u/Kennebec_Captain)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2025, 10:44am UTC](https://forum.gcaptain.com/t/good-article-on-usaf-colonel-john-boyd/72840/8 "2025-06-26T10:44:53Z")
Here’s [coljohnboyd.com](http://coljohnboyd.com) “_This site catalogs resources about Colonel John Boyd and his work. Its goal is to serve as a public, long-term digital archive for these resources._” That site includes a link to Boyd’s paper [“Destruction and Creation”](https://www.coljohnboyd.com/static/documents/1976-09-03 __Boyd_John_R__ Destruction_and_Creation.pdf) (pdf) From that paper: > Studies of human behavior reveal that the actions we undertake as individuals are closely related to survival, more importantly, survival on our own terms. Naturally, such a notion implies that we should be able to act relatively free or independent of any debilitating external influences—otherwise that very survival might be in jeopardy. In viewing the instinct for survival in this manner we imply that a basic aim or goal, as individuals, is to improve our capacity for independent action. The degree to which we cooperate, or compete, with others is driven by the need to satisfy this basic goal. First read that about 25 years ago, interesting to read it again. Boyd’s approach has its critics but it hold up well overall.