Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

by Robert Coram

In the summer of 1987, Boyd finished two new briefings. “Organic Design for Command and Control” was completed in May. Historically, briefings about command and control dealt with the “how”—that is, who reports to whom between various levels of command in fast-moving tactical situations. Boyd’s new briefing dealt with the “what” of command and control—the implicit connections and bonds that form the foundation for the proper messages between levels of command. This was the first time that the substance of what was communicated took precedence over the hardwired connections of the past. “The Strategic Game of? And?” Boyd finished in June. Here he deals with the themes of interaction and isolation. How do we physically, mentally, and morally isolate our adversaries while still interacting with others and with unfolding events? Much of the content of this briefing is a recycling of material from “Patterns of Conflict,” “Destruction and Creation,” and “Organic Design for Command and Control.” At the same time, Boyd was working on another briefing called “Conceptual Spiral,” a work that elaborated upon “Destruction and Creation” and thus more or less brought his work back to where it had begun.

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