Patterns of Conflict
| The works of |
| Works of John Boyd |
|---|
OODA WIKI Edition
Quantico Transcription
In continuing that then, here’s the game we’re sort of playing. Use that as a basis to do this, thereby you can realize that, and how you do it. Quite simple when you put it all up. Note that word again, penetrate, to sever his moral— and see what I’m saying? Probably should have underlined it, but I don’t like underlining all the time. Without the penetration, you can’t get there from here, is what I’m trying to tell you. Well, you know, one thing we ought to keep, we obviously got to be more indistinct, and more irregular.
Why did we go to camouflage uniforms, why do we not wear, you know, red coats and white trousers, and all that? Because, you know, you’re kind of revealed. What you try to do is you try to blend into the background, that’s why we wear that. There’s other ways of blending into the background, to operate in an irregular fashion so they can’t do it to you. You want to do all the things you can do so the other guy can’t discern what you’re up to.
And frequently change what you’re doing, so you’re always giving a screwed-up picture of what’s going on. Don’t let your troops get comfortable, because then you’re going to get sand-tabled. They’re going to want to get, oh I’ve got [unintelligible] once again, while you’re there, the enemy recce’s always working a problem on you, in a patrol action. They’re going to start knowing your outlines and they’re going to start to figure out how, where your weakness are, they’re going to be able to penetrate that and cause you problems. But if you’re moving about, you’re giving, you’re screwing up their mental picture all the time.