Orientation and Action, Part II: The OODA-PISRR Loop

Abbott, Dan. "Orientation and Action, Part II: The OODA-PISRR Loop." tdaxp. July 16, 2007. http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2007/07/16/orientation-and-action-part-ii-the-ooda-pisrr-loop.html (accessed January 15, 2011).
Dan Abbott utilizes John Boyd’s OODA LOOP and PISRR (Penetrate-Isolate-Subvert-Reorient-Reharmonize) to suggest an OODA-PISRR Social Loop which will shed light on the generations of modern warfare by showing that each succeeding generation of warfare is less kinetically intense than the previous generation.  Abbott also considers the relative usefulness of state action and non-state action, given what may be shown in the OODA-PISRR Social Loop.

Excerpt:

  • each ‘higher’ generation of war is less kinetically intense than the one before it.
  • Further, states tend to be victorious in areas where intensity is high but not overwhelming — between 2GW and 3GW.
  • At the same time, non-states tend to be victorious at low but not underwhelming kinetic intensity — between 3GW and 5GW.
  • Finally, 1GW and 5GW fall outside the realms of both the state and the non-state, and into the lands of the proto-state and the state-within.


Filed in