DEFCON

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"Defense condition" redirects here. For other uses, see Defcon (disambiguation).
The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces.
[1]
The DEFCON system was
developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands.
[2]
It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness
(or states of alert) for the U.S. military, and increase in severity from DEFCON 5 (least severe) to DEFCON 1 (most severe) to match
varying military situations.
[1]
DEFCONs are a subsystem of a series of Alert Conditions, or LERTCONs, that also includes Emergency Conditions (EMERGCONs).
[3]
There is no single DEFCON status for the country, and in fact different branches of the military can be at different levels of DEFCON at
the same time. DEFCONs should not be confused with similar systems used by the U.S. military, such as Force Protection Conditions
(FPCONS), Readiness Conditions (REDCONS), Information Operations Condition (INFOCON) and its future replacement Cyber
Operations Condition (CYBERCON),
[4]
and Watch Conditions (WATCHCONS), or the former Homeland Security Advisory System used
by the United States Department of Homeland Security.
Contents [hide]
1 Levels
2 History
2.1 DEFCON 2
2.1.1 Cuban Missile Crisis
2.2 DEFCON 3
2.2.1 Yom Kippur War
2.2.2 September 11 attacks
3 Operations
4 In other media
5 See also
6 References
Levels [edit]
DEFCONs vary between many commands and have changed over time,
[2]
and the United States Department of Defense uses exercise
terms when referring to the DEFCONs.
[5]
This is to preclude the possibility of confusing exercise commands with actual operational
commands.
[citation needed]
On 12 January 1960, NORAD "proposed the adoption of the readiness conditions of the JCS system", and
information about the levels was declassified in 2006:
[6]
Readiness
condition
Exercise term Description Readiness Color
DEFCON 1 COCKED PISTOL Nuclear war is imminent Maximum readiness White
DEFCON 2 FAST PACE Next step to nuclear war
Armed Forces ready to deploy and engage
in less than 6 hours
Red
DEFCON 3 ROUND HOUSE
Increase in force readiness above that
required for normal readiness
Air Force ready to mobilize in 15 minutes Yellow
DEFCON 4 DOUBLE TAKE
Increased intelligence watch and
strengthened security measures
Above normal readiness Green
DEFCON 5 FADE OUT Lowest state of readiness Normal readiness Blue
Movies and popular culture often misuse the DEFCON system by "going to DEFCON 5" when a nuclear war is imminent.
[7]
In fact,
DEFCON 5 is the lowest state of readiness. The highest state, DEFCON 1, has never been called for.
History [edit]
After NORAD was created, the command used different readiness levels (Normal, Increased, Maximum) subdivided into eight conditions,
e.g., the "Maximum Readiness" level had two conditions "Air Defense Readiness" and "Air Defense Emergency".
[6]
In October 1959, the
JCS Chairman informed NORAD "that Canada and the U. S. had signed an agreement on increasing the operational readiness of NORAD
forces during periods of international tension."
[6]
After the agreement became effective on 2 October 1959,
[6]
the JCS defined a system
with DEFCONs in November 1959 for the military commands.
[8]
The initial DEFCON system had "Alpha" and "Bravo" conditions (under
DEFCON3) and Charlie/Delta under DEFCON4, plus an "Emergency" level higher than DEFCON1 with two conditions: "Defense
Emergency" and the highest, "Air Defense Emergency" ("Hot Box" and "Big Noise" for exercises).
[6]
DEFCON 2 [edit]
Cuban Missile Crisis [edit]
The highest confirmed DEFCON ever was Level 2. During the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22, 1962, the U.S. Armed Forces were
ordered to DEFCON 3. On October 26, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was ordered to DEFCON 2, while the rest of the U.S. Armed
Forces remained at DEFCON 3. SAC remained at DEFCON 2 until November 15.
[9]
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DEFCON 3 [edit]
Yom Kippur War [edit]
On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a joint surprise attack on Israel resulting in the Yom Kippur War. The U.S. became
concerned that the Soviet Union might intervene and on October 25, U.S. forces including Strategic Air Command, Continental Air
Defense Command, European Command and the Sixth Fleet were placed on DEFCON 3. Over the following days, the various forces
reverted to normal status with the Sixth Fleet standing down on November 17.
[10]
September 11 attacks [edit]
The third time the United States reached DEFCON 3 was during the September 11 attacks of 2001. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld ordered the increased DEFCON level and to stand by for an increase to DEFCON 2, which never came.
[11]
Operations [edit]
The DEFCON level is controlled primarily by the U.S. President and the U.S. Secretary of Defense through the Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commanders, and each DEFCON level defines specific security, activation and response scenarios for
the troops in question.
Different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces (like the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Air Force) and different bases or command groups can be
activated at different defense conditions. There is no single DEFCON status for the country, as they are decided on an individual basis by
respective branches of the military.
[citation needed]
In other media [edit]
DEFCON was used significantly in the films WarGames, Thirteen Days, Watchmen, Independence Day, The Sum of All Fears,
Crimson Tide and Olympus Has Fallen.
The real-time strategy game DEFCON simulates the outbreak of thermonuclear war, and advances through the DEFCON levels as
each match progresses.
See also [edit]
Doomsday Clock
HURCON Hurricane Condition threat rating (military-developed scale).
National Command Authority
National Military Command Center
UK Threat Levels British equivalent to American DEFCON
References [edit]
1. ^
a

b
"Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms" (PDF). 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 19 August 2009).
Archived from the original on 11 November 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
2. ^
a

b
Sagan, Scott D. "Nuclear Alerts and Crisis Management" (Project Muse webpage). International Security 9 (4): 99139.
3. ^ United States Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District (CESAS) Plan 500-1-12, 1 August 2001
4. ^ Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 6510.01F
5. ^ FOIARelease of "Emergency Action Procedures of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Volume I - General" (April 24, 1981)
6. ^
a

b

c

d

e
NORAD/CONAD Historical Summary: July -December 1959 (Report). Retrieved 2013-09-25.
7. ^ Defcon Five at TV Tropes
8. ^ Sagan, S. D. (1985). "Nuclear Alerts and Crisis Management". International Security, 9 (4), 99139.
9. ^ DEFCON DEFense CONdition - United States Nuclear Forces
10. ^ Jan Goldman (16 June 2011). Words of Intelligence: An Intelligence Professional's Lexicon for Domestic and Foreign Threats .
Scarecrow Press. pp. 93. ISBN 978-0-8108-7476-3.
11. ^ 911 Commission Report
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