Patterns of Conflict
| The works of |
| Works of John Boyd |
|---|
OODA WIKI Edition
Quantico Transcription
Destructive force. Whether it be weapons, mechanical, chemical, et cetera. To kill, maim, or otherwise generate widespread destruction. Protection. To minimize the enemy doing the same thing to you. And mobility, either to bring it to bear or move away from your adversaries. The pay-off: break the enemy’s will to resist. Remember, those have been used words. Seize and hold terrain. And compel enemy to surrender and sue for peace. We haven’t said that many times, you know, they've got to show up. If they don't show up, it's not so good. What kind of image do you get out of that, anybody?
Audience: Futile. Sledgehammer.
Boyd: That's not a bad one.
Audience: Self-defeating.
Boyd: That's another one. But what I'm trying to tell you— if you look at this, there's not much moral or mental content. It's high physical content. Remember, we talked about the different levels, moral, mental, and physical? This just has a physical dimension. You're not playing the moral and mental. In fact, you might be playing moral and mental dimension against yourself by doing that. You're really— your emphasis on the physical content. You're not playing the moral or mental content.
Okay, now let's go on to maneuver.