What is the name and method of the military theorist who had a 4-part(?) hueristic for fighter pilots?

July 6, 2005 5:43 PM

Sometime in the last 2 years (I think!) there was a meme going around about a military theorist (from the 50's?) who came up with a rule set for fighter pilots. The idea was a fighter pilot was supposed to go around and around with these four(?) rules. Something like "assess / analyze / ?? / shoot" or something! Does anyone know who this is is, where I can get more info and the precise rule set?
posted by wtfwjd? to Education (4 answers total)

Best answer: Col. John Boyd. The OODA Loop: Observation, Orientation, Decision, Action. Plenty of results on a Google search for OODA. A recent biography can be purchased here. The author was on Booknotes in 2003.
posted by Bezuhin at 5:55 PM on July 6, 2005

On a side note, clandestine operatives also have a really cool one called the 4Ps, only 3 of which I can remember: Pistols, Payola, P___, and Pussy(/Penis). Google is no help.
posted by fourstar at 7:07 AM on July 7, 2005

All I could think of was:

1) The law of Germany
2) Be nice to Mommy
3) Don't talk to Commies
4) Eat Kosher salami

...but I couldn't remember in which order they came.
posted by mds35 at 10:28 AM on July 7, 2005

Boyd and his biography are really worth a look. One of his key ideas was that our armed forces could be trained to accelerate the staff preparation of battle to "get inside the enemy's decision cycle," or throw two punches while they're still reacting to the first. The first test of his theories, Gulf War I, was so successful, people (like Dick Cheney, apparently) who had some familiarity with the method thought Gulf War II would be just as easy. And they were right; but what people are asking now is, what if the enemy you're facing is unaffected by your operational tempo? Like an insurgency. Unfortunately, (unless I missed something) Boyd didn't focus his genius in that direction.
posted by atchafalaya at 12:28 PM on July 7, 2005