What is the O.O.D.A Loop?
The O.O.D.A. Loop was initially put forth by Lt. Colonel John Boyd. He was a United States Air Force fighter pilot and Pentagon consultant of the late 20th century, whose theories have been highly influential in the military, sports, business, and litigation worlds.
Lt. Colonel John Boyd posited that we fall into a loop of thinking that will affect how we can survive a situation. He is quoted as saying, “He who can handle the quickest rate of change survives.” The O.O.D.A Loop was constructed to outline the pattern of thinking that occurs both rapidly and over longer periods of time depending on the situation. When a person cuts you off in traffic and slams on the brakes, you run through the O.O.D.A. Loop. While preparing to walk across a busy street, you run through the O.O.D.A. Loop.
For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing on home defense. The O.O.D.A. Loop will occur very, very quickly in the vast majority of circumstances. Let’s look at each letter individually.
Observe
You have woken up to a loud banging at your front door in the middle of the night. This can even happen during the day. You are processing what the loud banging is and quickly discern that someone is trying to break in.
Your observation speed will differ depending upon time of day, whether you have headphones in while working out, are using loud power tools, are distracted with your children, or any other number of situations. Observation can be slow in some cases or extremely quick in others. This is particularly important when locking your doors and having a higher level of security. Giving yourself as much time to Observe is crucial to the rest of the Loop.
Orient
Orienting to the observation once again can be quick or slow. If your observation occurs quickly and you can determine that it is someone trying to break into your home, then this step will occur quickly. If you hear a loud banging or glass breaking and stop to think about what it may be, then you will be slowing the O.O.D.A. Loop down. You are trying to gain information about what you have observed at this point and must act as quickly as possible.
An easy way to speed up your orientation is to automatically assume that any loud noise at your doorways or the sound of breaking glass may be someone breaking in. I don’t want you to become paranoid. However, usually the sound of someone kicking your door in or the sound of breaking glass in your home isn’t typical (or shouldn’t be.) Therefore, assuming that there is a break in would be helpful.
Decide
At this point, you must make a decision on how you want to proceed. Will you move to the point of entry to see what is happening? Will you automatically remove yourself to a rear room and barricade yourself? Will you arm yourself and move to any third parties in the home to protect them? You must think about all of these options ahead of time so that your decision is automatic. If your decision is delayed in anyway then it could lead to devastating results.
One way to drastically improve the Decision portion of the O.O.D.A. Loop is to game plan what could happen. Run scenarios through your head and create a plan for each one. Ideally, you will shrink the number of decisions down to one or two. Any more then that and you may freeze in the moment. “Paralysis by Analysis,” as some people might say. If you try to think through too many scenarios while you are hearing the door being kicked in then you are wasting valuable time.
Using the If/Then method then you will be able to game plan what your actions will be ahead of time.
-If I hear the door being kicked in, then I will move to my bedroom to retrieve my firearm.
-If I hear glass breaking in the middle of the night, then I will arm myself and move to the bedrooms of my children to protect them.
-If I hear what I think is an intruder, I will tell my wife to dial 911 while she helps retrieve the children.
You can complete as many If/Then scenarios as required. However, what I want you to remember is that having the least number of options available is key to acting quickly. My Krav Maga instructor tells the story of a martial artist in New York back in the 70’s or 80’s who was jumped and beat up badly. When questioned by the police who knew of his skills, they asked what happened. Why hadn’t he defended himself? He responded that he knew so many different defenses that when it came time to use them, he couldn’t decide which one to use. His brain froze in the moment and his skills failed him.
This story can reflect on how you will defend your home as well. If you have 10 different ways that you plan on acting in a situation then you may freeze when it becomes time to act.
Act
Finally, after you have Observed, Oriented, and Decided, then you must Act. Action will be different for each person/family. Your decision process will directly affect how you act. By having a definitive game plan in place, your action should be swift and effective. As I have mentioned in a prior article, what is your standard for efficacy? If you have one and have practiced it thoroughly then your action should be very fast.
Please take the time to study and think through the O.O.D.A. Loop. Although you will be practicing it frequently throughout the day, you do not want to get stuck in any portion of the Loop in a home defense situation. If you delay any step then you are putting yourself or your family at risk. A failure to Observe properly will affect the rest of the steps. If you Observe and Orient properly but make a poor Decision then your Action may be flawed. Training and running through a number of scenarios and whittling down to a select number of Decisions/Actions will speed everything up. The O.O.D.A. Loop is a prescient topic to learn considering you use it daily in many facets of life, not just home defense.
Stay safe. Stay practical. Stay educated.
-Pat
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