John Richard Boyd

Jan. 23, 1927 - Mar. 8 1997

Born in Erie Pennsylvania

Presentation by: Gabriel Beninati

Boyds Family
John Boyd was born into a family of 5, living comfortably in Erie, Pennsylvania. A few months before his second
birthday, the youngest member of the Boyd family was born. His siblings were, in order from oldest to youngest, Marion,
Bill, Hubert Jr., and Ann. His Father, Hubert, worked as a sales representative for HammerMill. Boyds mother, Elsie,
raised the Boyd children and enjoyed a certain community standing that the family had. On Johns third birthday, his
father Hubert was buried after he died of Pneumonia just days earlier.
Boyds Family Continued
Without her husband and with the new wave of unemployment that came with the Great Depression, Elsie Boyd
maintained the familys social standing by creating and running three jobs from her house: A bakery, a stationary store,
and conducting telephone solicitations. The Boyd children were given a large amount of freedom during their childhood
because of these three jobs. However, whenever they were in public, they were to be on their best behavior, and never
speak about what happened inside the house. This doctrine was only strengthened when Ann contracted Polio in 1933.
Boyds Family Continued
During his childhood and teenage years, John was typically alone. His older siblings wanted little to do with
him and his mothers attention was mainly on her jobs and taking care of Ann. In school, he quickly
demonstrated his intellectual prowess, being the first to finish assignments. He would spend his spare class
time drawing futuristic monoplanes (at the time) and completely immerse himself in the drawing, almost as if
he was flying it. He also became an amazing swimmer, becoming the captain of his high schools water polo
team. During this time, his brother, Bill, died of bronchopneumonia that was caused by schizophrenia.
Towards the end of his senior year, John was drafted into the Army Air Corps and deployed to Japan.
Boyds Family Continued
After he served his time in the Army Air Corps, he attended the University of Iowa, and met his future wife, Mary
Ethelyn. During his junior year, he joined the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Corps (AFROTC) and quickly became
known as a take-charge guy. Once he graduated, he was commissioned into the United States Air Force and chose to be
a fighter pilot. It was only after his deployment in Korea when he proposed to Mary. They had in total 5 children.
Because of Johns devotion to his work, he was rarely with his family, even if he was at home. They only ever owned one
house, but they did live in a small apartment after Boyd retired from the Air Force. Everyone but Boyd was displeased
with this decision.
An Important Lesson
The first major influential event that occurred in Boyds life was the idea that was hammered into his head by his mother:
If he held onto what he knew was right, and never compromised his integrity, he would always emerge triumphant. This
was influential because it inspired and motivated him to never let go of what was right, resulting in many bureaucratic
battles within the Pentagon that ended in victory for him, and ultimately, the Air Force entire United States.
Unexpected Fighter Performance
The second major influential event in Boyds life occurred because of how U.S. fighter jets outperformed U.S.S.R jets,
despite being inferior in every conceivable way. This yearning lead him to earn a degree in Aeronautical Engineering
from Georgia Tech, one of the best tech universities in the U.S. Armed with this new knowledge, he revolutionized how
fighter aircraft were built, as well as flown in combat.
40 Second Boyd
One of the first influential acts that Boyd performed was to be able to win any dogfight in under 40 seconds. During his
time at the Fighter Weapons School (FWS) at Nellis AFB, he issued a challenge to all of his students, fellow instructors,
and any pilots with the fortitude to accept it: If you can beat me in under 40 seconds, I will pay you 40 dollars. Everyone
who attempted to beat him, including the best from the other service branches and allied countries, failed. The only
opponent that came close was a U.S.M.C. officer who lasted until the last few seconds. The aircraft he flew was the F-
100, an aircraft with major instability problems. If you jerked the controls too quickly to the right, the aircraft would spin
to the left and enter an inescapable dive. Not only did Boyd find a way to overcome this problem, he was the only one
who consistently pushed the aircraft past its lethal limits and lived to tell the tale.
Creating the E-M Theory
With his degree from Georgia Tech, Boyd created the Energy Maneuverability theory, a surprisingly simple equation that
accurately judged how effective a fighter aircraft would be. Before it was used to create new aircraft, it proved to many
that USAF fighters were inferior to Soviet fighters. Despite all the benefits that could come from using the E-M theory, it
wasnt trusted and was barely used until the last few decades.
Creating the F-15 and F-16
John Boyd never backed down in a fight, which is part of the reason he was infamous within the Air Force. Of his
hundreds of bureaucratic battles, there were two that lead to the production of the worlds best fighter aircraft. Neither the
F-15 or the F-16 were designed the exact way that Boyd wanted, but the F-16 came very close. Both were intended to be
a lightweight fighter, but the F-15 was changed by the Air Force so much that it almost became a completely different
aircraft. The F-16, however, did end up as a lightweight fighter, weighing at around 35,000 lbs. when fully loaded. This
was the most produced military aircraft in the world, and both are still in active service today.
OODA Loop
A third major contribution that John Boyd had to America was creating the OODA Loop in the late 1970s. The acronym
stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. This can be applied to anything, whether it be as menial as caring for a
neighbor's pet, or something as important as saving lives while still efficiently accomplishing the mission. The Air Force
never liked Boyd, but because of OODA Loop, he is immortalized in the Marine Corp Hall of Fame. This laid the
bedrock for something called Maneuver Warfare, a strategy that can be best described as water running down a hill.
Instead of advancing as a united front, we find a weak spot in the enemy's defences and exploit it. This has saved tens if
not hundreds of thousands of American lives in war.
Questions?

Sources:
Pictures: https://www.jqpublicblog.com/to-be-or-to-do-the-trick-question-of-air-force-officer-
development/ http://www.findyourbreakaway.com/map-of-erie-pennsylvania.html
http://www.usgwarchives.net/maps/pa/county/erie/usgs/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Corps http://www.airuniversity.af.mil/Holm-
Center/AFROTC/ http://fortlauderdaleairshow.com/f-16-viper-demo-team/
https://www.thenation.com/article/only-the-pentagon-could-spend-640-on-a-toilet-seat/
https://theblogczar.wordpress.com/2011/01/22/asymmetric-politics-e-m-theory-part-one-key-concepts/
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?459605-News-videos-of-MIG-15-and-F86-Sabre-from-Alphamodels
http://www.volleyball1on1.com/reading-the-game-the-biggest-change-in-volleyball-coaching-and-how-you-are-likely-teaching-it-
wrong/ http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/boyd.htm
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?96201-fighter-maneuverability-comparison
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:F-4E_Phantom.jpg http://www.businessinsider.com/qatar-buys-f15-from-us-2017-6
https://www.hobbydb.com/subjects/general-dynamics-f-16-make-model-family https://www.r4footballsystem.com/r4-ooda-loop-and-
tom-bradys-super-bowl-li-interception/ Information:
Boyd The Fighter
Pilot Who Changed the Art of War Written by: Robert Coram