In February 2022, a senior official with the U.S. military never publicly releases the current DEFCON level. The DEFCON 1 exercise term is “Cocked Pistol.” Is the DEFCON Level Public?įor security reasons, the U.S. The United States has never been at DEFCON 1 – at least not to the public’s knowledge – since the system began. The most urgent alert, DEFCON 1, represents the highest level of readiness for nuclear war.ĭEFCON 1 would be reserved for when an attack is perceived as imminent or already under way – when the nation’s forces are engaged in full-on war mode.ĭEFCON 1 represents “a maximum readiness posture requiring the highest state of preparedness to execute war plans,” the Joint Chiefs memo says. The DEFCON 2 exercise term is “Fast Pace.” DEFCON 1 military were at DEFCON 2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. will have “subs at sea and the bombers waiting on the runways,” as described by Roger Molander, a nuclear protest leader, in a 1984 column.
Troops are poised for combat at this time.ĭEFCON 2 represents “a readiness posture requiring a further increase in military force readiness which is less than maximum readiness certain military deployments and selected civil actions may be necessary in consonance with the command’s mission,” according to the Joint Chiefs memo.ĭuring this stage, the U.S. “It primarily meant leaves were canceled, men were ordered to return to their units and preparations were made to move them out if necessary.” DEFCON 2ĭEFCON 2, one step from nuclear war, is implemented when an enemy attack is expected. “DEFCON 3 did not put the military on a war footing,” according to an Associated Press article. military on DEFCON 3 during the Yom Kippur War, as Moscow was reportedly preparing to launch an attack in the Middle East. Over a decade later, in 1973, President Richard Nixon put the U.S. The DEFCON 3 exercise term is “Round House.”Īt less-tense points during the Cuban Missile Crisis, various parts of the U.S. Two steps from war, DEFCON 3 is generally seen as a standby level of alert, and it is the highest level of alert during peacetime.ĭEFCON 3 represents “a readiness posture that requires certain portions of the assigned forces to assume an increased readiness posture above that of normal readiness,” according to the Joint Chiefs memo. Most forces are usually at DEFCON 4 or 5. The DEFCON 4 exercise term is “Double Take.” military complex ramps up intelligence gathering and shores up security.ĭEFCON 4 represents “a readiness posture requiring increased intelligence watch and a continuing analysis of the political/military situation in the area of tension,” according to the original Joint Chiefs of Staff memo. The DEFCON 5 exercise term is “Fade Out.” DEFCON 4ĭEFCON 4 describes the everyday operating procedures for fighting units.Īt DEFCON 4, the U.S. DEFCON 5 represents “a normal readiness posture which can be sustained indefinitely and which represents an optimum balance between the requirements of readiness and the routine training and equipping of forces for their primary mission,” according to a Joint Chiefs of Staff description of this level when the DEFCON system was first introduced.
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