Fall 2001 Boyd Conference
Marine Base, Quantico, Virginia USA

"A Swift, Elusive Sword"

On 12 October 2001, a group of interested Marines will sponsor the Fall 2001 Boyd Conference. These conferences are conducted to increase the understanding of maneuver warfare precepts within the military profession, particularly those derived from writings by the late Col John Boyd, USAF, and his associates. 

A set of three general questions guides topic selection for the series:

  1. Where is the US in terms of operationalizing maneuver warfare?
  2. Where do we need to go?
  3. How do we get there?

The topic for the Fall 2001 Boyd Conference invites participants to look at the national security strategy through a maneuver warfare lens. Dr Chet Richards will initiate discussion by sharing his views, summarized in the short book: A Swift, Elusive Sword - What if Sun Tzu and John Boyd did a National Defense Review? (Center for Defense Information, Washington, DC, May 2001)

Following discussion of Dr. Richards' premise, time will be allocated to stating counterpoint positions.

Schedule: 

1000-1145  Parlor Discussions for early arrivals
1200-1250 Social Hour
1300-1340 Premise Statement by Dr. Richards
1340-1420 Discussion
1430-1445 Counterpoints to Premise
1445-1530 Discussion  of Counterpoints
1530-1630 Moderated Open Discussion
1700  Beer call in Quantico

Logistics:     

The Conference will be held at the Marine Corps Association Building on Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va.  Space is limited, so attendees are asked to contact , USMC, Ret., to acknowledge planned attendance. 

Limited copies of Dr. Richards' book are available on request from Marcus Corbin at the Center for Defense Information. For a copy contact: . Attendees are encouraged to obtain a copy prior to the conference.  The book can also be downloaded in either MS Word or PDF format from the CDI site, http://www.cdi.org/mrp.

Time will be allocated for stating two counterpoint positions during the conference.

The Marine Corps Association and the Center for Defense Information are co-sponsors of this event.

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