OODA Loops, Optimism, and How Armies Learn: Lessons from the North Africa Campaign

In this episode, Dr. Samuel Wallace helps explain the way the Allies were learning in 1942-43 throughout the final six months or so of the North Africa Campaign following Operation Torch, and the ways in which the Axis forces were not learning some of the same lessons they were having issues with. It's a long one, but full of fantastic details that Sam brings from his dissertation research. While we did not fully resolve all of the issues we were learning to deal with before going into Sicily in July 1943, the Allies' capacity for adaptation and improvement, along with innate American optimism and confidence, were really helping us improve at an incredible pace.