Operating inside the Attacker: Part Five/ OODA Components (Act)

Author: Odhinn Kohout

  

The sense of finality (ACT) must be tempered with the Mens Rea needed for creating the prior “decide” category of Boyds theories.

The OODA loop draws its strength from the perpetual continuum or the cyclic nature of how he (Boyd) used the construct entitled “Unfolding Interaction with Environment” to REMIND the participant that the event must not be considered to be immovable and static but rather evolving and organic.

Boyd goes on to tie the final end state of ACTION intrinsically back (feedback) to OBSERVATION which adheres to all of our modern training principles in having the student take stock of their surroundings during the entirety of the engagement.

One example;

Students are taught rudimentary concepts of range safety that after a course of fire has been completed to complete a 180 deg visual sweep of their surroundings prior to holstering their weapon. This forces the student from being solely focused on only one aspect of their environment.

The OODA loop is not just four quadrants as I have seen it most often portrayed in reference to training and to compartmentalize it as such does a disservice to the amount of time Boyd invested in its creation.
 I would compare this to legendary SF Warrior Col. Nick Rowe and his vast contributions to the modern SERE program. Col. Rowe did not merely “escape” from his captors in Viet Nam but used an asymmetrical approach involving psychology, physical prowess, and mental toughness to CREATE the circumstances by which he DEFEATED his captivity.

The purpose of exploring the OODA loop with these articles is for you to come up with your own subjective observations of the Boyd matrix and by doing so dig a little deeper. I believe that this is ultimately what Boyd had in mind…

Be safe Gentlemen.