Operating inside the Attacker: Part Three/ OODA Components (Orient)

Author: Odhinn Kohout

Boyd’s central component of the OODA loop (Orient) covers 5 distinct aspects that work in conjunction as a hub from which a holistic vantage point can be taken.

Cultural Traditions/Genetic Heritage-

In the era that Boyd was formulating his learning theories, Germany and Japan were two  of the main adversaries that the Allies were fighting. Some of the Japanese pilots signed up for one way “Kamikaze” missions and sacrificed themselves by crashing into Aircraft Carriers and other ships. The Luftwaffe on the other hand did not use its pilots for purposeful acts of suicide demonstrating the “Cultural Traditions” and differences that can be found between the two opponents.

Fast forward to Afghanistan and you will see the inherent genius of Boyd to predict the importance of understanding the cultural aspects of the Afghan people. In the Taliban you have an extreme right-wing Islamic group who use Sharia law as the catalyst for their behavior. Referencing Boyd’s terminology the “Genetic Heritage” of the Taliban can be found from the Mujahedeen founded in the late 70’s from local Arab groups of freedom fighters.

Al Qaeda also has historical ties to the Mujahedeen but became fixated with the creation of a Islamic Caliphate as its ultimate goal while focusing all its energies on attacking Western targets from beyond its borders establishing terrorist proxies and affiliates along the way which now span the Globe. Boyd’s theories have modern applications and relevance if you look at them in the context from which Boyd created them

Analysis & Synthesis-

Combination of breaking down all the intelligence/information that is gathered and using a cognitive approach (Analysis) to identify key aspects and components which can in turn be used against the enemy and not always in the sense of direct action but the shortest path to success.

Previous Experience-

Training… and field experience. The response to have the most chance at succeeding MUST at its core have been compiled from qualitative and quantitative measures.

New Information-

The ever changing environment or battlefield needs to be continually uploaded into the plan of attack. This can be illustrated in very simple terms in a Law Enforcement setting;

The Officer gets knocked down to the ground by the person he is trying to arrest. The Officer is gaining the upper hand when suddenly the bad guy produces a knife which was hidden in his clothing and attempts to stab the Officer who is still fighting off his back . This “New Information” changes the landscape of the altercation.

All of which feed into;

Decision/Hypothesis –

Good judgment and the ability to make split second decisions under extreme stress is the true relationship between reality based training (RBT) and a proper trained response versus a sports fighting platform of CQC built on a concept of the other party giving up or “tapping out.”

Your mind will search frantically for “default” training that has been learned in a critical incident of life/death/.

Chaos and violence cannot be navigated easily when it is uncharted territory  and the Officer can become overwhelmed by the effects of heart-rate, tunnel vision, auditory exclusion and a loss of fine and complex motor skills.

We will continue our in depth analysis of Boyd’s OODA loop in the next BLOG.

Be safe Gentlemen!