The OODA Loop

 

Video: The OODA Loop and Self Defense

Application: The OODA loop is a formalized decision making procedure that is especially important when the decisions have to be made quickly, as in a threat situation. The development of a rapid decision making process can give you or your team huge tactical advantages. Most people, when confronted with threats, take a “chess player role” where they make a move and wait for you to make a move. You do not have to wait until the other guy makes a move!  Your moves should be as rapidly as possible to keep the threat off balance and keep the initiative on your side.

Background: The OODA loop was developed by US Air Force fighter tactician John Boyd. It has been applied to business and computer programming as well as military strategy and tactics. My greatest understanding of the OODA loop came from reading Paul Howe’s excellent book Leadership and Training For the Fight.

O-O-D-A stands for Observe-Orient-Decide-Act

It is a “loop” because in a situation it is a flowchart, and repeating, until the situation is over. Let me describe the steps in an OODA Loop and explain how they can be applied.

Observe- You perceive, through your senses, a threat or situation that must be dealt with

Orient- You synthesize the information with things you already know about your own (or your teams) mental state, disposition and capabilities. It is not necessarily a physical orientation to face a threat.

Decide- You decide what your reaction to the threat or situation should be based factors such as the capabilities (of you and your team) your position, the nature of the threat etc.

Act- You carry out your decision.

Returning to the loop: Once you have acted you are committed to the action until you observe a new threat or situation. Your action could be successful, or afterward it might require more action at which time you must reenter the loop at the beginning.

Speed: The speed at which you get through the loop can give you a tactical edge. The objective is to get through the loop faster than your adversary. In an ideal situation you can deal with a threat before your opponent has even realized he is in a confrontational situation and entered his own OODA loop. If not, and the enemy has time to react, then you have to “get inside” his loop. This means that you need to be performing the loop faster than he can.

Training: As the OODA loop is a purely mental thing it is hard to train. Training is best accomplished by playing rapid “what if” games. After this it can be practiced in force on force and tactical field problems. It is also beneficial to commit certain things to "muscle memory," or train certain multi step certain actions in to one step. For example. “Shoot that target from concealment” would involve the steps of 1) face the target 2) clear cover clothing 3) acquire a firing grip 4) draw weapon to retention 5) extend firing grip 6) acquire sight picture 7) squeeze the trigger 8) assess the target. With practice, all these actions can be compressed into a single step, thus compressing your own OODA loop.