ABSTRACT
Both in The Sling and the Stone and in his writings in this volume, Tom Hammes has made important contributions to our slowly growing understanding of Fourth Generation war. While his book is generally stronger in its descriptive than in its theoretical sections, it offers one very important addition to Fourth Generation theory, namely that with regard to John Boyd’s OODA Loop (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act), accuracy of observation and orientation is more important in Fourth Generation situations than is the speed at which one cycles. Exactly how the OODA Loop works in the Fourth Generation remains an open question; it is possible that Fourth Generation entities can out-cycle states not by being faster, but by moving so slowly as to be unobservable. If that is true, it would put yet more weight behind Hammes’ observation.
