The Automated Decision Making Process, the OODA Loop is a conceptual mental appreciation process developed by a US Air Force Colonel, John Boyd in the 1960’s and 1970’s, also known as the Boyd Cycle. This concept has become popular for military and business strategic thinking. However, it also establishes a firm model of automated decision making in a physically combative environment. And as such is a perfect model to explain how our mind works in making decisions in a combative environment including to a point where those counters to an attack by an assailant with a knife becomes instinctive.
John Boyd’s Automated Decision Making Process, The OODA Loop
Boyd argues that the OODA Loop is a recurring cycle that enables us to automate our decision making processes which includes Observation – Orientation – Decision – Action. This process Boyd argues is applicable for both entities and individuals.
For our purposes we will restrict our discussion to the individual and furthermore that individual involved in an altercation. That individual involved in an altercation that can process this cycle more quickly than his opponent observing and reacting to events as they unfold can gain the advantage by being faster than their opponent’s decision cycle and therefore being able to get inside their opponents decision cycle process.
The cycle explains how to direct our capability and capacity to defeat an opponent and survive. In actuality the cycle is a set of continuous operational interacting loops during an altercation our automated decision making process goes through. It is also identified in the cycle that the phase of combat or altercation is important in the decisions made in the allocation of energies or responses.
The diagram highlights that the decisions made in combat are based on observation of an evolving environment and situation that is tempered by the filtering of information relevant to the problem being addressed. The result in which decisions are made and what actions are taken and are based on the filtering of the raw information gained from observation. Observed information is processed to orient that information for further decisions.
Boyd’s cycle describes orientation as “the repository of our genetic heritage, cultural tradition, and previous experiences”. This element of the cycle is described as the most important as it is responsible for the shaping of how we observe, the way we reach a decision and the way we will respond and act. It is this element of the cycle where our ability to analyze and synthesize information will occur based on our previous experience, genetic and cultural history.
Boyd argues the following:
“In order to win, we should operate at a faster tempo or rhythm than our adversaries–or, better yet, get inside [the] adversary's Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action time cycle or loop. … Such activity will make us appear ambiguous (unpredictable) thereby generate confusion and disorder among our adversaries–since our adversaries will be unable to generate mental images or pictures that agree with the menacing as well as faster transient rhythm or patterns they are competing against.”
As one of Boyd's colleagues, Harry Hillaker, put it in "John Boyd, USAF Retired, and Father of the F 16 Fighter”.
“The key is to obscure your intentions and make them unpredictable to your opponent while you simultaneously clarify his intentions. That is, operate at a faster tempo to generate rapidly changing conditions that inhibit your opponent from adapting or reacting to those changes and that suppress or destroy his awareness. Thus, a hodgepodge of confusion and disorder occur to cause him to over- or under-react to conditions or activities that appear to be uncertain, ambiguous, or incomprehensible.”
The OODA loop argued by Boyd states that agility over raw power in dealing with human opponents in any endeavor will prevail. For this to happen the critical element is time. The successful combatant must be able to complete the process faster than their adversary. A tactical-level example related to our interest is of a person being assaulted by an attacker armed with a knife. The defender needs to take control of the weapon and disarm and subdue the assailant. A traditional frontal block approach is not likely to succeed and it is unlikely that the defender will survive. The defender must engage the attacker in a rapid and elaborate series of body movements and blocking techniques designed to befuddle the attacker denying him the ability to take advantage of being in possession of the weapon.
At basic levels of execution this may be merely a series of fakes, with the hope that the attacker will make a mistake or an opening will occur. However, practice through repetitive training associated and in conjunction with mental focus (possibly developed through social conditioning programs) may allow the defender to reduce the time scale, get inside the attackers OODA loop, and take control of the situation – to cause the attacker to move in a particular way. This will allow the defender to generate an advantage rather than merely reacting to an incident or opportunity presented by the attacker.
We have highlighted the importance of time in the OODA cycle now let us discuss Orientation, as stated previously “the repository of our genetic heritage, cultural tradition, and previous experiences”. This is an important element of the cycle and if highly developed enables us to not only reduce the time of the entire process but is essential to accurately analyze information as appropriate.
The author teaching Instinctive Knife Defence when the Operations Officer at the Australian Army MUC Wing
Therefore how do we train for this to develop this quality and capability? Military organizations, police and state security agencies have had a long tradition in enhancing individuals exposing them to experiences and identifying matches in the individual’s genetic and cultural history that will enhance that individual’s performance in achieving the desired outcomes to certain situations. Similarly our training needs to be based on these types of methodologies when training to overcome assailants armed with edged weapons. Realistic training placing the participant in fatigue induced stressful environments controlled and safely supervised will enhance the participants experiential learning to set scenarios involving assailants with edged weapons. This type of training will in turn impact the trainee’s levels of coordination, control, focus, speed, agility and power not to mention mental approach to dealing with such situations.
Observing and identifying the trainee’s genetic traits insofar as their “natural abilities” and then analyzing and assessing these traits and developing appropriate training methodologies will also improve the trainee’s performance as a result of a more adaptive and tailored method of training and teaching specific skills.
To enable a suitable defence against an attacker adaptation of the trainee’s individual cultural history is necessary. This is a persuasive process of changing the acceptance values of individuals and their perception of violence to include moral acceptance while still maintaining compliance to the legislative and social codes of our society. How is this achieved? Group acceptance, establishment and acceptance of new standards, and acceptance of varying actions and forms of behavior are all examples of how specific training will modify a trainee’s individual cultural history.
Using the military as an example soldiers are trained to fire weapons with the intent of killing an adversary. “Desensitization” of this action is achieved by labeling and the separation of the act. Killing a person is now named neutralizing the opponent, securing a target or engaging an enemy or target. This is a simple example as the entire process is quite complex however, it does highlight the concept.
Military Unarmed Combat 1994
Knife Defence Australian Army
Therefore a similar approach is employed when training a person to defend themselves against an assailant armed with an edged weapon. The essential element is to develop a concept of “psychological commitment” by the defender. This is a state of mind where the defender is determined not to be the victim, is assertive, takes and maintains the initiative and is prepared to execute techniques that although still compliant to the use of force continuum and other legislative guidelines concerning the use of force may result in the serious injury and or death of the attacker.
John Boyd put his ethos into practice with his work for the USAF. He was an advocate of maneuverable fighter aircraft, in contrast to the heavy, powerful jet fighters that were prevalent in the 1960s. His theories advocate agility and speed to defeat an opponent. The critical element in winning employing his concept is time. Similarly, that same concept was derived from individuals engaged in physical combat and should still be utilized especially when dealing with assailants armed with edged weapons.
