Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

by Robert Coram

in her

Arizona—went to Japan as part of the occupation force. He arrived on January 3, 1946, and was assigned to the 8th Squadron of the 49th

how Boyd saw himself and would continue to see himself: the man of principle battling superiors devoid of principle; the idealist fighting those of higher rank who have shirked their responsibilities; the man who puts it all on the line and, after receiving threat of dire consequences, prevails. His principles win out over his opposition’s lack of principles.

If there is any group on Earth with healthier egos than fighter pilots, they have yet to be discovered.

The saying of the time was “The more you bleed in peace time, the less you bleed in war.”

Boyd closed the briefing by saying the message is that whoever can handle the quickest rate of change is the one who survives.

Sun Tzu also talked of how a commander should use two thrusts, either of which could attain the objective. But perhaps the most significant element in Sun Tzu is the concept of cheng and ch’i, the orthodox and the unorthodox, the traditional and the unexpected. A simplistic explanation of cheng and ch’i comes from General George Patton, who in World War II said his plan for attacking the Germans was to “hold them by the nose and kick them in the ass.” Holding them by the nose is the cheng. Kicking them in the ass is the ch’i.

Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.

That beachhead is looming bigger and bigger.… Fight the enemy, not the terrain

“This stuff has got to be implicit,” Boyd said. “If it is explicit, you can’t do it fast enough.”

Boyd put it more succinctly: “You can’t change big bureaucracies until they have a disaster.”