Boyd, Pentagon analyst Pierre Sprey, and Air Force Colonel Everest Riccioni formed an informal alliance that became known as the "Fighter Mafia." United by the conviction that the Air Force was building the wrong aircraft — too expensive, too complex, optimized for specifications rather than combat effectiveness — they advocated for a lightweight, highly maneuverable fighter informed by E-M theory. Operating outside official channels and often in direct opposition to Air Force leadership, they laid the intellectual and political groundwork for what became the Lightweight Fighter program and ultimately the F-16. The Fighter Mafia embodied Boyd's "To Be or To Do" ethic: all three men sacrificed career advancement for the conviction that they were right.