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24 GEORGIA TECH Fall 2002 Fall 2002 GEORGIA TE

John Boyd had to fight the U.S. Air Force togo to school at Georgia Tech. He won the

battle.Aviation, military theory and Americas

national defense are the better for his victory.

Most Americans have never heard of JohnBoyd, who, as an Air Force captain, earned hisindustrial engineering degree at Tech. But hewas one of the most important unknown menof his time and perhaps the most remarkableunsung hero in American military history.Georgia Tech was the intellectual and technicalfoundation for his achievements.

In 1959, Boyd was an instructor at whatwas then called the Fighter Weapons School atNellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas. He had

written the Aerial Attack Study, which forthe first time codified the maneuvers of air-to-air combat and changed the way every airforce in the world flies and fights. The AirForce captain wanted to improve his work, toreduce it to mathematical formulae, to find

what he called the breakthrough that hsensed was there. But he knew his econodegree from Iowa State did not give him

background to do so.Boyd applied to the Air Force Institu

Technology, a program that sent officers to college for advanced degrees in the fiewhich they had obtained their undergradegrees. The AFIT initially refused to accBoyd for an undergraduate engineeringdegree. But the Cold War was at its heigSoviets had launched Sputnik and the srace was on. The Air Force needed engiand Boyd learned his application wouldapproved if he would study electricalneering and go to a school chosen by the

Force.Boyd said no to both. If I took EE awould do was worry about generators amotors, and I did not care about that. Hwanted to study industrial engineering, wanted to go to Georgia Tech. A few mo

JOHN BOYDArchitect of Modern Warfar

By Robert Cora

An Air Force pilot descends

the ladder of an F-16. John

Boyd was the genius behind

the F-15 and F-16, two of

the worlds greatest tacti-

cal aircraft. But Boyd wasangry at how the Air Force

additions weighted down

the two aircraft, making

them less nimble and agile. GeorgeHa

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