Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

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Introduction...................................................................................................................................259Focus ............................................................................................................................................260Simple minded message..................................................................................................................261Illustrations...................................................................................................................................261Grand Message.............................................................................................................................263Underlying dynamics .....................................................................................................................263Final step: why novelty matters ......................................................................................................265Deeper Message.............................................................................................................................267THE ESSENCE OF WINNING AND LOSING..............................................................................268Introduction...................................................................................................................................268Key statements...............................................................................................................................268The real OODA loop...................................................................................................................270BEYOND THE RAPID OODA LOOP IDEA ................................................................................272Correcting the narrow interpretation...............................................................................................272The larger theme: Adaptability......................................................................................................273A new synopsis .............................................................................................................................274Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................2798. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................... 280SUMMARY .......................................................................................................................................280A new synthesis.............................................................................................................................281Science and strategic theory: uncertainty and adaptability...............................................................282A general theory of organizational survival ....................................................................................284Beyond rapid OODA looping.......................................................................................................285BOYD AS THE FIRST POST-MODERN STRATEGIST?.................................................................286The name of Boyd’s Zeitgeist .........................................................................................................286An interesting combination: Lyotard and Boyd..............................................................................289Structuration Theory .....................................................................................................................292Boyd as deconstructionist?..............................................................................................................295Post-modern security studies...........................................................................................................296BOYDIAN CONCEPTS AND POST-MODERN VISION OF FUTURE WAR..................................299The rise of the post-modern warform ..............................................................................................299A revolution in postmodern military affairs....................................................................................303The asymmetric response................................................................................................................311CLOSING THE LOOP.....................................................................................................................315ANNEX A : BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DESTRUCTION AND CREATION ............. 317ANNEX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PATTERNS OF CONFLICT .......................... 318BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 323CURRICULUM VITAE............................................................................................ 339x
1. INTRODUCTIONTo flourish and grow in a many-sided uncertain and ever changing world that surrounds us, suggeststhat we have to make intuitive within ourselves those many practices we need to meet the exigenciesof that world. The contents that comprise this 'Discourse' unfold observations and ideas thatcontribute towards achieving or thwarting such an aim or purposeJohn Boyd, A Discourse, p.1Who is John Boyd and what is A Discourse ?The general objective of this study is to provide a better understanding of the ideasconcerning conflict and military strategy John Boyd developed and laid down in A Discourse.It aims to correct and complement the common interpretation of his work, while in additionshowing the impact of this body of strategic thought on U.S. military doctrine and defencepolicy of the past two and a halve decades. An answer to the question who John Boyd wasand what A Discourse comprises may start with some sections of a tribute written two daysafter Boyd’s death on 9 March 1997 which describes him asa towering intellect who made unsurpassed contributions to the American art of war. Indeed,he was one of the central architects in the reform of military thought which swept theservices, and in particular the Marine corps, in the 1980’s. From John Boyd we learned aboutthe competitive decision making on the battlefield-compressing time, using time as an ally.Thousands of officers in all or services knew John Boyd by his work on what was to beknown as the Boyd Cycle or OODA loop. His writings and his lectures had a fundamentalimpact on the curriculum of virtually every professional military education program in theUnited States-and many abroad [..]he was the quintessential soldier-scholar - a man whosejovial outgoing exterior belied the vastness of his knowledge and the power of his intellect 1 .Boyd was a strategist, a person who, according to Colin Gray, sees, even though he or shecannot possibly be expert in, all dimensions of the ‘big picture’ of the evolving conditions ofwar 2 . John Boyd was an officer in the United States Air Force who lived from 1927-1997. Hesaw combat action as a fighter pilot, flying the F-86 Sabre during the Korean War. In thefifties and sixties he developed air combat tactics and trained pilots at the Fighter WeaponsSchool at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. During the sixties, posted at the Pentagon,he was closely involved in the design of the F-16 and the F-15 fighter aircraft. He retired as acolonel in 1975. He continued his involvement with military affairs as a (virtually non-paid)consultant. In this capacity he was involved in attempts to reform the US defenseestablishment and the acquisition process at the Pentagon that he considered a stiflingbureaucracy. The period from retirement to 1995 marks the gestation period of A Discourse.One of his biographers states that most of his real education occurred after he retired from1 General C.C. Krulak, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Inside the Pentagon, 13 March 1997, p.5.2 Colin Gray, Modern Strategy (Oxford, 1999), p. 52.1
Page 3 and 4: Science, Strategy and WarThe Strate
Page 5 and 6: We are survival machines.Richard Da
Page 7 and 8: CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION............
Page 9: Introduction.......................
Page 13 and 14: testing of the decision selected by
Page 15 and 16: momentum and tempo, which in combin
Page 17 and 18: tracing the history of war Boyd saw
Page 19 and 20: in general. Referring to Karl Poppe
Page 21 and 22: constitute an argument about strate
Page 23: 2. ON STRATEGY AND STRATEGIC THEORY
Page 26 and 27: its internal make up and the dynami
Page 28 and 29: strategist’s task is not to creat
Page 30 and 31: must be holistic, paying due respec
Page 32 and 33: Such a division can also be discern
Page 34 and 35: sensibility that would be capable o
Page 36 and 37: Why strategic theorizing is difficu
Page 38 and 39: truth is independent of human belie
Page 40 and 41: policy, is policy’ 107 . Subseque
Page 42 and 43: of systems of thought which will gu
Page 44 and 45: Science and Strategic TheoryDominan
Page 46 and 47: the major intellectual currents tha
Page 48 and 49: friction, which is infused with the
Page 50 and 51: 3. THE SEEDS OF A THEORY AND THE FE
Page 52 and 53: Slowly his writings matured. In 196
Page 54 and 55: This situation also reflected the d
Page 56 and 57: at the cost of airspeed depletion)
Page 58 and 59: and air power theorists are notably
Page 60 and 61:
Lawrence wrote Liddell Hart that fo
Page 62 and 63:
The Indirect ApproachThe foregoing
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in weakening the opponent’s will
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standing in a direct theoretical li
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perfect information, so Chapter 9 r
Page 70 and 71:
According with the enemy is the ass
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preconceived battle plan depends up
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mental or moral, instead they aim t
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calculation, based on the assumptio
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Turbulent environmentThis convictio
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the introduction of the M1 Abrams t
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campaign with which it was most com
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The debates resulted via the improv
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emphasized being more responsive, a
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4. SCIENCE: BOYD’S FOUNTAINKnowle
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The list exceeds 20 pages. Indeed,
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counter-culture. He had read severa
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Popper’s Evolutionary Epistemolog
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species. Finally, theories, unlike
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discovery’ 39 . ‘We have here t
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for failure and an encouragement fo
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investigated and a change of the ru
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Paradigm shiftBeyond NewtonIn the p
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philosophical aspects, Prigogine an
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uncertainty in another “conjugate
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The link between thermodynamics and
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As Ludwig Bertalanffy noted, the gr
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assessing deviation from coursecoun
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the system by the environment or ot
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A slightly more complex model from
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implementation of the right program
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The model below shows this process
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The process of learning, and the pr
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Positive indicatorsNegative indicat
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In Patterns of Conflict he also emp
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progressed and developed a new lang
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advances in knowledge, adaptation,
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TraditionalReductionismLinear causa
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exist only because they are open. T
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Concentration of chemical ANew stab
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It preserves the web-like pattern o
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Orientation shapes the character of
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either. The edge of chaos is where
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The final region is the boundary be
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Levels of adaptationThis naturally
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Operate inside adversary’s OODA l
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Organisms which are internally cons
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The last mentioned feature implies
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mathematics, in short chaos and com
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Such efforts have lead to suggestio
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processes are maintained simultaneo
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Boyd’s views on command and contr
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Several of these ideas surface in B
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problems they seek to comprehend or
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ehavior in reaction to what the oth
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sciences, which he termed a new int
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egulations, orders, and other means
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as focus for military planning on t
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A Discourse and the scientific Zeit
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Sharpening our mental capabilities
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perceive it’ 184 . By trying to c
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Ensure a large variety of conceptua
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The main intent of the effort is to
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e true. Thus tested and refined, it
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particulars or we can start with th
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inconsistencies may emerge to stifl
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although not exact1y -- since the u
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eality 29 . As indicated earlier, t
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He then incorporates a section of t
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Attack enemy’s plans as best poli
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planning process which included var
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Boyd does not find fault with these
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oth methods the same processes seem
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strategic planning in light of the
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gauged all the conditions indicated
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Blitzkrieg disrupts the connections
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- a medium to realize superior inte
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Only the fourth condition relates t
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Shape and exploit crises environmen
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penetrate an adversary to subvert,
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Maneuver Conflict - as practices by
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In light of his previous observatio
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difficult) subordinates that accept
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This then leads to the second wrap-
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mask one’s own system against any
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dimension on the behavior of a stra
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Theme for Disintegration and Collap
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Strategic AimDiminish adversary’s
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ApplicationRevisiting Sun Tzu, rein
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The general underlying idea of Coun
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to victory by connecting them to th
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destruction and creation to his inv
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Boyd’s inspiration also came in p
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The Big O: Orientation.The ensuing
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implicit cross-referencing process
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Magnify adversary’s friction and
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This differs from traditional views
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patterns that produced success in m
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General SurveyIn this section his i
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city, however, the situation is qui
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“Destruction and Creation”, by
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So Boyd discerns within the adversa
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On isolation and interactionPhysica
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The Art of Success:Shape or influen
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The meaning of strategy and the art
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however is not much different, but
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Examples from EngineeringSome Outst
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words, in order to gain a richer im
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what applies to science and enginee
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technology, is connected to the gam
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The real OODA loop270
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This relates the OODA loop clearly
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for a process of learning, of evolv
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thing any system is constantly faci
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communication and explicit directio
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8. CONCLUSIONThe history of science
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found himself in. To Sun Tzu Boyd a
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strategy. He elaborates on several
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ehavior, demonstrating the value of
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film, sociology, geography, literar
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That social scientific knowledge, o
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undertakes to improve its own perfo
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The reflexive nature of modern soci
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the context within which the situat
Page 308 and 309:
“road maps for action”, but rat
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all point at the changes the techno
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central sign of post-modernity. In
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a revolution in military affairs oc
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This will affect war and warfare:
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Athena’s Camp. They see swarming
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commanders to improve their decisio
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Military War Beyond Military War No
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schemas. Gell-Mann developed the id
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extent in the novel approach for th
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ANNEX B: BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PATTERNS O
Page 330 and 331:
LeBoeuf, Michael, “GMP, The Great
Page 332 and 333:
Wolf, Eric R., “Peasant Wars of t
Page 334 and 335:
Bartolomasi, Paolo: ‘The Realitie
Page 336 and 337:
Cohen, William S.: Report of the Qu
Page 338 and 339:
Fukuyama, Francis: The Great Disrup
Page 340 and 341:
Hughes, Daniel: ‘Abuses of German
Page 342 and 343:
Lewin, Roger, and Birute Regine:
Page 344 and 345:
Murdock, Paul, ‘Principles of War
Page 346 and 347:
Rosenau, James, N.: ‘Many Damn Th
Page 348 and 349:
Walt, Stephen M.: ‘Rigor or Rigor
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