Colonel John Boyd, USAF had a profound and lasting effect on the way Marines think, make decisions and fight.

Boyd continued his work after retirement as a consultant for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Program Analysis and Evaluation.

Boyd's briefing "Pattern's of Conflict" provided part of the foundation for the "Defense Reform Movement" during the 1970s and 80s.  Another prominent member of the movement was William "Bill" Lind who authored the Maneuver Warfare Handbook .    The Military Reform Movement fought against an Careerist Officer Corps, overly complex and expensive weapons systems and reliance on attrition warfare.  

In 1980 Boyd gave his Patterns of Conflict briefing to Amphibious Warfare School (AWS) at Quantico.  Colonel Michael Wyly, then an instructor at AWS, and Boyd ended up changing the curriculum based on Boyd's briefing.  Colonel Wyly, Bill Lind and other junior Marine Officers are credited with developing the concepts that would later become the Marine Corps model for Maneuver Warfare (FMFM-1) Warfighting. 

OODA loop

The key concept in the Boyd's Decision Cycle was the OODA loop.  FMFM-1 Warfighting describes the importance of Tempo as a weapon. The OODA loop is the key to decision making and thus maintaining tempo.

Boyd believed that the key to victory was to create situations where you can make correct decisions faster that your enemy.  (His theory originally was designed to achieve success in aerial combat based on his observations between MIGs and F-86s in Korea.  The pilot who goes through the OODA loop faster acts and wins because he puts the enemy in a position to react to situations that are no longer relevant).

Boyd believed in a  continuous cycle of interaction with the environment. His Decision Cycle is broken into four interrelated processes (Observation, Orientation, Decision and Action or OODA) that continuously cycle and overlap (loop).

• OBSERVATION:   The collection of data by means of the senses
• ORIENTATION:   The analysis and synthesis of data to form one's current mental perspective
• DECISION:          The determination of a COA based on one's mental perspective
• ACTION:             The physical playing out of decisions

             

Boyd emphasized that this decision cycle is the central mechanism enabling adaptation and is critical to survival.

Boyd's decision cycle is applicable at all levels of warfare (tactical, operational and strategic) as well as in governments and corporations.  

He believed that most effective organizations:

-Have a highly decentralized chain of command

-Utilize mission orders and exercise directive control

TRUST TACTICS

Boyd argued that these organizations harness the creative abilities of commanders at all levels.  These command structures create flexible organizations that can more quickly and adapt to changing situations. Units such as these require a great deal of mutual trust between commanders and Marines.

FMFM-1 (Chapter 2, footnote 20)

"Tempo is often associated with a mental process known variously as the "Decision Cycle," "OODA Loop," or "Boyd Cycle," after retired Air Force Colonel John Boyd who pioneered the concept in his lecture, "The Patterns of Conflict." Boyd identified a four-step mental process: observation, orientation, decision, and action. Boyd theorized that each party to a conflict first observes the situation. On the basis of the observation, he orients; that is, he makes an estimate of the situation. On the basis of the orientation, he makes a decision. And, finally, he implements the decision--he acts. Because his action has created a new situation, the process begins anew. Boyd argued that the party that consistently completes the cycle faster gains an advantage that increases with each cycle. His enemy's reactions become increasingly slower by comparison and therefore less effective until, finally, he is overcome by events."