OODA Loop in MiLITARY/Police Training

Author: Odhinn Kohout

John R. Boyd “40 second Boyd”

Col John R.Boyd  a well-respected fighter pilot with the U.S. Air Force incorporated the theories of Heisenberg, Newton, and Sun Tzu into his own model for defeating an enemy. Called the OODA loop (observe, orient, decide and act) or “Boyd loop” it established Boyd as one best  military strategists  of his time.

  

Illustration by: Odhinn Kohout

• Observation: Gathering of all available intel

• Orientation: Analysis of intel as it relates to current situation

• Decision: Course of action based on analysis (plan of attack or strategy)

• Action: Enacting the plan through a physical response

This is how Boyd describes his loop principles:

“The speed must come from a deep intuitive understanding of one’s relationship to a rapidly changing environment.”

Aware that the loop could also be used by the enemy with equal effectiveness Boyd theorized the use of “isolation” as a means of preventing the enemy from passing through the loop components. Boyd states that:

·         "Physically we can isolate our adversaries by severing their communications with [the] outside world as well as by severing their internal communications to one another. We can accomplish [the former] ... via diplomatic, psychological, and other efforts. To cut them off from one another, we should penetrate their system by being unpredictable.

·         "Mentally we can isolate our adversaries by presenting them with ambiguous, deceptive, or novel situations, as well as by operating at a tempo or rhythm they can neither make out nor keep up with. Operating inside their OODA loops will accomplish just this by disorienting or twisting their mental images so that they can neither appreciate nor cope with what's really going on.

·         "Morally our adversaries isolate themselves when they visibly improve their well-being to the detriment of others ... by violating codes of conduct or behavior patterns that they profess to uphold or others expect them to uphold."

I believe that the modern application of this loop is linked heavily to the training of both the individual and team. Without the ability to perform psychomotor functions in an unconscious competence (Maslow) framework coupled with high stress, the operator will constantly be “behind” the loop and slower than his enemy.