9d • SKILL CHALLENGES
Week 7: Situational Awareness & the OODA Loop
Objective: Develop deliberate environmental awareness and decision discipline.Core Skill: Decision dominance before movement.
Training Primer (Post This at the Start of the Week)
The OODA Loop was developed by Colonel John Boyd as a decision-cycle model:
- Observe – Gather data.
- Orient – Interpret the data through experience and context.
- Decide – Choose a course of action.
- Act – Execute.
- Repeat.
Most people skip Observe and rush to Act.
This week is about slowing down your reaction cycle and strengthening perception.
CRAWL PHASE:
Controlled Awareness Development
Task:
Spend 20 uninterrupted minutes outdoors. No phone. No music. No multitasking.
You must identify and document:
- High ground (relative, not absolute)
- Water flow direction
- Wind indicators
- Likely animal travel corridors
- One hazard feature (deadfall, unstable slope, exposure risk, etc.)
Additional Required Observations:
- Sun position and approximate time of day
- Noise layers (natural vs man-made)
- Ground moisture condition
- 3 micro-terrain features (small depressions, subtle rises, drainage cuts)
Deliverable:
Post a written After-Action Note (AAN) in Skool:
- What did you initially miss?
- What changed after 10 minutes?
- What surprised you?
Standard: You should notice at least 3 things you did not see in the first 2 minutes.
If not — you were not observing deeply enough.
WALK PHASE
Applied OODA During Movement
Task:
Conduct a 1-mile terrain walk without headphones or digital navigation.
Every 200–300 meters, you must consciously cycle OODA.
At Each OODA Cycle:
Observe:
- Terrain ahead
- Terrain behind
- Terrain above (canopy / skyline)
- Sound shift
- Light shift
Orient:
- If weather changes, where is shelter?
- If injured here, what’s your exfil plan?
- If darkness fell now, what changes?
Decide:
- Adjust route?
- Increase/decrease pace?
- Shift position on trail?
Act:
- Execute that decision immediately.
Verbalization Drill:
Quietly narrate decisions to yourself.If you can’t explain why you moved left instead of right — you’re reacting, not leading.
Deliverable:
Post:
- 3 decisions you made
- 1 decision you corrected
- 1 thing you misread
Standard: At least one course correction must occur. If not, you weren’t truly evaluating.
RUN PHASE
Directional Disruption & Return
This is controlled friction.
Setup:
Have someone point you in a random direction.
You must travel 400 meters without GPS.
Before moving, you get 30 seconds only to observe surroundings.
During Movement:
- No checking phone
- No compass unless you brought one intentionally
- No marked trails preferred
At 400m:
Stop.
Now orient yourself back to your start point.
You must:
- Identify at least 2 terrain anchors
- Identify sun orientation
- Recall 3 features passed on way out
Then return.
Debrief Requirements:
Post the following:
- What terrain anchor helped most?
- What did you fail to notice on outbound leg?
- Did you overcorrect or drift?
- If this were real-world disorientation, what would have compounded your error?
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Week 7: Situational Awareness & the OODA Loop
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