Rethinking Security: Boyd Recap

So, my head is still spinning from Boyd 2010. I went with Alex of i-Con and a mutual friend, and met up with Fred Leland, Don Vandergriff, J. Scott Shipman, SAIC's Isaac Russell, and Bruce I. Gudmunsson. In addition to the many great talks, we also had some sushi at Quantico and hit up the Officer's Club. I also drained the Quantico bookstore, which has a much larger selection then the stuff I bought three years ago. A capsule account follows, for those who might have missed my Twitter updates.

Biographer Robert Coram opened up at 0915 with a short and touching introduction regarding Boyd's life, with acolyte Ray Leopold telling some more amusing anecdotes. Don Vandergriff gave a great update about his progress in trying to alter the Army's training and personnel system, and Jim Hasik looked at defense procurement. Paul van Riper gave the keynote speech. Riper gave a rather beautiful address about the philosophy of science, the military's misunderstanding of complex systems, and the need for operational doctrine that fits better with human experience. As Shipman pointed out to me in an aside, van Riper's points were very similar to those recently made by J.S. Storr in his book The Human Face of War.

Mike Grice, Marcuz Mainz, and Art Corbett gave very interesting updates on Marine Corps operations and professional education and Boyd's influence. Corbett gave a preview of an upcoming Mission Command concept that became the subject of a great debate among the participants. On the second day, Linton Wells looked at naval maneuver, Joe Dufrense talked about the Coast Guard's futures planning program, and Katya Drozdova did a Boydian analysis of Soviet strategy in Afghanistan. Fred Leland had a great presentation on police training and his use of Boydian concepts to improve the police.

There was a great conversation following this that focused on everything from the everyday interactions of police to some of the ideas John P. Sullivan and I have written on about police command and control and Mumbai-type attacks. Alex and I stuck around for Terry Banhard and Chip Pearson's presentations on Boyd and business before raiding the Quantico bookstore and hitting the highway. I picked up John Schmitt's Tactical Decision Games, Gudmunsson's book Stormtrooper Tactics, Thinking in Time, The Marines and Amphibious War, Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat, Command in War, and The Glorious Cause. If anyone is interested in a more detailed account of any of the presentations mentioned, shoot me an email.