Boyd by Robert Coram

Author:Robert Coram
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Non-fiction, War, Biography, History
ISBN: 9780316881463
Publisher: Little, Brown
Published: 2002-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The Fighter Mafia Does the Lord’s Work

BOYD’S retirement date was drawing closer when, in May 1969, he received an extraordinary ER. His boss, Colonel Robert Titus, fire walled the review on the front side. On the second page he said Boyd’s E-M work “has been the single most important link making the acquisition of the F-15 Advanced Tactical Fighter possible.” He talked of Boyd’s “unbounded enthusiasm,” said Boyd was a “tactical and technical innovator who has no peer,” and said Boyd’s “active and searching mind seemingly never rests as it seeks out ever broader and farsighted fields of inquiry.” He ended by saying Boyd was a “gifted, resourceful and adroit” officer who should be promoted to full colonel below the zone.

The indorsing officer said Boyd had “contributed immeasurably to the Air Force F-15 program.” A major general provided still another indorsement saying Boyd was “recognized by the military and industry as an outstanding authority in the field” and that he recently had received the Citation of Honor for his pioneering development of fighter tactics. The general concluded by urging that Boyd be promoted to colonel below the zone and said he was “… one of the two best candidates of all the Lt Colonels that I know.”

Boyd’s retirement date was pushed back from October until December. Then, in July, Boyd asked that his retirement again be pushed back, this time until February 1, 1970. Usually when an officer submits his retirement papers, it means he wants out quickly. Not so with Boyd. He submitted papers for retirement a year early, then added more time. There had to have been a reason. A cynic would be justified in thinking Boyd was using the threat of retirement as leverage for his promotion to full colonel, an idea the Acolytes strenuously oppose. They say Boyd simply did not care about rank. But their view is from the benefit of hindsight and of Boyd’s later expressions about rank. None of them knew at the time he was submitting and extending his retirement dates.

In August, Boyd was transferred from the Pentagon to an office in Systems Command headquarters at Andrews AFB, where his job was to monitor the work of the F-15 program manager at WrightPat. He was humiliated by the assignment. At the Pentagon he had back-channel communications with the chief of staff and often dealt with members of Congress. At Andrews he was in a nonjob. In addition, the Air Force had changed the fundamental nature of the F-15. Boyd was beginning to look at the aircraft—even though the first one had not rolled off the assembly line—as a transition aircraft, a cumbersome misapplication of technology. On the other hand, the lightweight fighter he secretly was working on was a rapier that embodied all the concepts of his updated E-M Theory. It was simple and small, with less drag, less weight, less visibility, and with much greater performance than the F-15, a day fighter that would not even carry a radar. It was a pure fighter with no bomb racks.

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