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pinotandsugar t1_ixggz05 wrote

Were someone to read discourse on Wining and Losing they would not hear about jet fighters but rather about the strategies that resulted in winning and loosing over tens of centuries of wars and diagrams showing how reserves were used in various classic battles.

While Boyd would have preferred a simpler F-16 if fully focused on his strategy of great vision, highly maneuverable, affordable. His primary focus was on daytime fighter only missions. However , the evolution of the USAF mission called for all weather and some offensive air to ground capability beyond the gun. Boyd got 90% of what he wanted and the Air Force (and the air forces of many foreign nations) received what Boyd wanted and a great deal more capability.

Yes, thanks in large part to the Air Force bureaucracy Boyd left with few friends on the air side. But that served the nation well as Boyd inspired the Marine and allied land battle strategy for the first Gulf War that resulted in one of the most one sided battles in history. The Marines and a number of DOD officials gave Boyd credit as the foundation of their Maneuver Warfare strategy.

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