Some Personal Reflections on John Boyd

Abstract

John Boyd was an extraordinary human being. His dedication to the power of ideas, his willingness to give them away, his pursuit of truth, his brilliance in translating scientific insights into strategy, his delight in mismatches and difficult questions, his commitment to the security of the United States, all these have been chronicled by me and several other authors - Chuck Spinney, Jim Burton, Robert Coram, Frans Osinga and a host of newspaper stories and magazine features in the likes of Fortune, Time, Newsweek and Fast Company. While important parts of the historical record in recording his accomplishments and contributions to American security, which continue to this day, they do not give a sense of the many other facets of the man. While John would be proud that he and his ideas have become the subject of study of others, not only in the U.S. but all over Western Europe, and as far away as Singapore and Australia, we should remember other aspects of the man as well.