^* Students of US military history will recognize these as the words of Col. John Boyd, a noted military aviator and conflict theorist. His pugnacious, maverick personality earned him the visceral wrath of the military’s senior brass, and he never rose above the rank of colonel, despite his contributions to US military strategy, still taught to this day, and his hand in the design of such legendary aircraft as the F-15, F-16, and A-10. The Air Force never formally disavowed him, however, and he had a twenty-four-year career as a pilot and an officer.