38:
368:(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. While at DEFCON 2, 92.5% of SAC's weapons systems (approx. 1,479 strike aircraft; 182 Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman missiles; 2,962 total nuclear weapons; and 1,003 refueling tankers) were ready to launch within one hour, while its
1135:
335:. The initial DEFCON system had "Alpha" and "Bravo" conditions (under DEFCON 3) and Charlie/Delta under DEFCON 4, plus an "Emergency" level higher than DEFCON 1 with two conditions: "Defense Emergency" and the highest, "Air Defense Emergency" ("Hot Box" and "Big Noise" for exercises).
330:
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." After the agreement became effective on
October 2, 1959, the JCS defined a system with DEFCONs in November 1959 for the
72:. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness (or states of alert) for the U.S. military. It increases in severity from DEFCON 5 (least severe) to DEFCON 1 (most severe) to match varying military situations, with DEFCON 1 signaling the impending outbreak of
325:
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". In October 1959, the
412:
reports indicating that the Soviet Union had sent a ship to Egypt carrying nuclear weapons along with two other amphibious vessels. Soviet troops never landed and the declassified documents did not disclose the fate of the ship and its cargo.
186:
Although a higher DEFCON number refers to a more relaxed defence posture, the term has been misused in popular culture in which "DEFCON 5" is incorrectly used to describe an active conflict situation (such as in the title of the
893:
719:
960:
825:
1110:
947:
372:
expanded to include 1/8th of SAC's bomber forces, allowing an average of 65 planes in the air in position to be directed at targets in the Soviet Union at any given time.
849:
1008:
180:
208:
uses exercise terms when referring to the DEFCON levels during exercises. This is to prevent confusing exercise commands with actual operational commands.
886:
490:
678:
322:
212:
458:
ordered the DEFCON level be increased to 3, and also a stand-by for a possible increase to DEFCON 2. It was lowered to DEFCON 4 on
September 14.
1102:
1041:
104:
817:
1047:
529:
509:
205:
1155:
500:
100:
539:
176:
626:
215:"proposed the adoption of the readiness conditions of the JCS system", and information about the levels was declassified in 2006:
495:
168:
1070:
394:
747:
438:
on August 18, 1976, readiness levels for US forces in South Korea were increased to DEFCON 3, where they remained throughout
96:
925:
860:
1004:
416:
Over the following days, the various forces reverted to normal status with the Sixth Fleet standing down on
November 17.
797:
409:
389:. The United States became concerned that the Soviet Union might intervene, and on October 25, US forces, including
658:
431:
192:
160:
140:
58:
559:
402:
361:
332:
69:
753:. United States Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District (CESAS) Plan 500-1-12. 1 August 2001. Archived from
144:, as of 2022, the U.S. DEFCON level has never been more severe than DEFCON 3. The DEFCON 2 levels in the 1962
123:
31:
686:
111:; each level defines specific security, activation and response scenarios for the personnel in question.
439:
425:
390:
369:
365:
153:
65:
138:) and different bases or command groups can be activated at different defense conditions. According to
451:
357:
145:
986:
554:
338:
The United States has never declared a readiness condition of DEFCON 1 to prepare for nuclear war.
108:
1139:
711:
703:
505:
119:
115:
987:"Strategic Air Command Operations in the Cuban Crisis of 1962 (Historical Study No. 90 Vol. 1)"
1037:
1033:
Words of
Intelligence: An Intelligence Professional's Lexicon for Domestic and Foreign Threats
652:
327:
127:
1031:
772:
695:
601:
514:
474:
398:
204:
Defense readiness conditions vary between many commands and have changed over time, and the
135:
131:
196:), or more figuratively, to describe an aggravated state of mind ("going to DEFCON five").
455:
73:
61:. For security reasons, the US military does not announce a DEFCON level to the public.
633:
479:
386:
385:
On
October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a joint attack on Israel resulting in the
1149:
1077:
955:
715:
159:
DEFCONs should not be confused with similar systems used by the US military, such as
992:. US Strategic Air Command, via the National Security Archive. pp. 58, 66, 97.
754:
733:
544:
408:
According to documents declassified in 2016, the move to DEFCON 3 was motivated by
917:
171:(INFOCON) and its future replacement Cyber Operations Condition (CYBERCON), and
54:
850:"Emergency Action Procedures of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Volume I - General"
188:
435:
948:"The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Nuclear Order of Battle October/November 1962"
1134:
549:
172:
149:
84:
1076:. Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania: U.S. Army War College. Archived from
37:
17:
707:
80:
1071:"Negotiating With the North Koreans: The U.S. Experience at Panmunjom"
534:
484:
468:
360:
on
October 16–28, 1962, the U.S. Armed Forces (with the exception of
275:
Increase in force readiness above that required for normal readiness
164:
699:
632:. 12 April 2001 (As Amended Through 19 August 2009). Archived from
627:"Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms"
291:
Increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures
1005:"CIA reveals its secret briefings to Presidents Nixon and Ford"
262:
Armed forces ready to deploy and engage in less than six hours
487:– Hurricane Condition threat rating (military-developed scale)
79:
DEFCONs are a subsystem of a series of "Alert
Conditions", or
818:"Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 6510.01F"
798:"From DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 1: understanding the DEFCON levels"
1103:"Complete 911 Timeline: Donald Rumsfeld's Actions on 9/11"
364:(USAREUR)) were ordered to DEFCON 3. On October 24,
27:
Alert posture used by the United States Armed Forces
887:
NORAD/CONAD Historical
Summary: July -December 1959
517:– Similar British system used for terrorism threats
114:Different branches of the U.S. Armed Forces (i.e.
95:The DEFCON level is controlled primarily by the
859:. April 24, 1981. pp. 4–7. Archived from
508:– Unofficial disaster recovery metric used by
243:Nuclear war is imminent or has already begun
8:
595:
593:
591:
589:
587:
585:
583:
581:
579:
577:
575:
491:National Command Authority (United States)
471:– Continuity of government readiness level
278:Air Force ready to mobilize in 15 minutes
881:
879:
877:
875:
873:
844:
842:
621:
619:
217:
70:unified and specified combatant commands
36:
672:
670:
668:
571:
246:Maximum readiness. Immediate response.
64:The DEFCON system was developed by the
946:Norris, Robert S. (October 24, 2012).
679:"Nuclear Alerts and Crisis Management"
650:
1050:from the original on 18 November 2015
966:from the original on October 20, 2018
105:Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
7:
181:U.S. Department of Homeland Security
1011:from the original on 27 August 2016
796:Mickeviciute, Rosita (2023-11-27).
530:United States color-coded war plans
206:United States Department of Defense
501:National Terrorism Advisory System
25:
1036:. Scarecrow Press. pp. 93–.
540:Homeland Security Advisory System
177:Homeland Security Advisory System
1133:
496:National Military Command Center
169:Information Operations Condition
1113:from the original on 2021-07-01
1069:Probst, Reed R. (16 May 1977).
1003:Naftali, Tim (26 August 2016).
928:from the original on 2019-06-28
899:from the original on 2013-09-27
828:from the original on 2022-08-09
771:Theisen, Tiffini (2023-01-24).
725:from the original on 2016-03-04
677:Sagan, Scott D. (Summer 1985).
395:Continental Air Defense Command
985:Strategic Air Command (1963).
748:"Emergency Action Plan (SEAP)"
1:
1030:Goldman, Jan (16 June 2011).
405:, were placed at DEFCON 3.
175:(WATCHCONS), or the former
161:Force Protection Conditions
141:Air & Space/Smithsonian
47:defense readiness condition
1172:
918:"DEFCON DEFense CONdition"
423:
342:Instances of DEFCON 2 or 3
307:Lowest state of readiness
59:United States Armed Forces
29:
1156:Alert measurement systems
560:Preparing for Emergencies
362:United States Army Europe
259:Next step to nuclear war
152:applied only to the U.S.
101:U.S. Secretary of Defense
857:US DoD FOIA Reading Room
600:Tiffini Theisen (2023).
454:, Secretary of Defense
432:the axe murder incident
294:Above normal readiness
32:Defcon (disambiguation)
1107:www.historycommons.org
687:International Security
657:: CS1 maint: others (
370:airborne alert program
42:
440:Operation Paul Bunyan
426:Operation Paul Bunyan
420:Operation Paul Bunyan
391:Strategic Air Command
366:Strategic Air Command
211:On January 12, 1966,
154:Strategic Air Command
83:, which also include
66:Joint Chiefs of Staff
40:
1142:at Wikimedia Commons
866:on January 13, 2014.
452:September 11 attacks
446:September 11 attacks
358:Cuban Missile Crisis
352:Cuban Missile Crisis
221:Readiness condition
165:Readiness Conditions
146:Cuban Missile Crisis
109:Combatant Commanders
85:Emergency Conditions
30:For other uses, see
1083:on October 24, 2005
555:Four-minute warning
639:on 8 November 2009
506:Waffle House Index
43:
1138:Media related to
1043:978-0-8108-7476-3
602:"What is DEFCON?"
523:Historic/Defunct:
333:military commands
314:
313:
310:Normal readiness
128:U.S. Marine Corps
16:(Redirected from
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515:UK Threat Levels
475:Combat readiness
399:European Command
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173:Watch Conditions
136:U.S. Space Force
132:U.S. Coast Guard
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773:"DEFCON Levels"
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700:10.2307/2538543
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456:Donald Rumsfeld
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74:nuclear warfare
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28:
23:
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12:
11:
5:
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1128:External links
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760:on 2013-02-03.
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424:Main article:
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387:Yom Kippur War
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240:COCKED PISTOL
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124:U.S. Air Force
97:U.S. president
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694:(4): 99–139.
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87:(EMERGCONs).
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52:
48:
41:DEFCON levels
39:
33:
19:
1115:. Retrieved
1106:
1097:
1085:. Retrieved
1078:the original
1064:
1052:. Retrieved
1032:
1025:
1013:. Retrieved
998:
980:
968:. Retrieved
954:
941:
930:. Retrieved
921:
912:
901:. Retrieved
861:the original
856:
830:. Retrieved
821:
812:
801:. Retrieved
791:
780:. Retrieved
777:Military.com
776:
766:
755:the original
742:
734:Project MUSE
732:– via
727:. Retrieved
691:
685:
641:. Retrieved
634:the original
606:. Retrieved
545:BIKINI state
522:
521:
449:
429:
415:
407:
384:
355:
337:
328:JCS Chairman
320:
299:
288:DOUBLE TAKE
283:
272:ROUND HOUSE
267:
251:
235:
227:Description
210:
203:
191:
185:
179:used by the
158:
139:
113:
103:through the
94:
78:
63:
57:used by the
50:
46:
44:
1087:17 December
970:February 8,
608:19 November
450:During the
403:Sixth Fleet
356:During the
167:(REDCONS),
55:alert state
1117:2016-08-02
932:2016-03-06
903:2013-09-25
892:(Report).
832:2017-05-04
803:2024-04-14
782:2024-04-14
729:2013-05-04
643:1 February
567:References
430:Following
256:FAST PACE
230:Readiness
189:video game
163:(FPCONS),
91:Definition
68:(JCS) and
1015:26 August
716:154595250
436:Panmunjom
304:FADE OUT
148:and 1991
120:U.S. Navy
116:U.S. Army
1150:Category
1111:Archived
1048:Archived
1009:Archived
961:Archived
926:Archived
894:Archived
826:Archived
720:Archived
653:cite web
550:CONELRAD
462:See also
401:and the
376:DEFCON 3
347:DEFCON 2
300:DEFCON 5
284:DEFCON 4
268:DEFCON 3
252:DEFCON 2
236:DEFCON 1
193:Defcon 5
150:Gulf War
107:and the
99:and the
81:LERTCONs
53:) is an
18:DEFCON 3
1054:6 March
1007:. CNN.
922:fas.org
822:jcs.mil
708:2538543
317:History
156:(SAC).
1140:DEFCON
1040:
714:
706:
535:HANDEL
485:HURCON
469:COGCON
321:After
200:Levels
51:DEFCON
1081:(PDF)
1074:(PDF)
990:(PDF)
964:(PDF)
951:(PDF)
897:(PDF)
890:(PDF)
864:(PDF)
853:(PDF)
758:(PDF)
751:(PDF)
723:(PDF)
712:S2CID
704:JSTOR
682:(PDF)
637:(PDF)
630:(PDF)
323:NORAD
213:NORAD
1089:2009
1056:2016
1038:ISBN
1017:2016
972:2022
659:link
645:2014
610:2023
510:FEMA
45:The
696:doi
434:at
410:CIA
1152::
1109:.
1105:.
1046:.
959:.
953:.
924:.
920:.
872:^
855:.
841:^
824:.
820:.
775:.
718:.
710:.
702:.
690:.
684:.
667:^
655:}}
651:{{
618:^
574:^
442:.
397:,
393:,
183:.
134:,
130:,
126:,
122:,
118:,
76:.
1120:.
1091:.
1058:.
1019:.
974:.
935:.
906:.
835:.
806:.
785:.
736:.
698::
692:9
661:)
647:.
612:.
49:(
34:.
20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
