September 11 attacksĪllegedly the third time the United States reached DEFCON 3 was during the September 11 attacks of 2001. Armed Forces were at DEFCON 3 status during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. SAC remained at DEFCON 2 until November 15. On October 26, Strategic Air Command (SAC) was ordered to DEFCON 2, while the rest of the U.S. During the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22, 1962, the U.S. The highest confirmed DEFCON ever was Level 2. The highest level of DEFCON known to have been used įor much of the Cold War, American ICBM sites were at DEFCON 4, rather than 5.
DEFCON SYSTEM PLUS
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). had signed an agreement on increasing the operational readiness of NORAD forces during periods of international tension." After the agreement became effective on 2 October 1959, the JCS defined a system with DEFCONs in November 1959 for the military commands. In October 1959, the JCS Chairman informed NORAD "that Canada and the U. The highest state is DEFCON 1.Īfter 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". In fact, DEFCON 5 is the lowest state of readiness. Movies and popular culture often misuse the DEFCON system by "going to DEFCON 5" during a state of emergency.
Increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures Increase in force readiness above that required for normal readinessĪir Force ready to mobilize in 15 minutes 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: Readiness conditionĪrmed Forces ready to deploy and engage in less than 6 hours This is to preclude the possibility of confusing exercise commands with actual operational commands. military, such as Force Protection Conditions (FPCONS), Readiness Conditions (REDCONS), Information Operations Condition (INFOCON) and its future replacement Cyber Operations Condition (CYBERCON), and Watch Conditions (WATCHCONS), or the former Homeland Security Advisory System used by the United States Department of Homeland Security.ĭEFCONs vary between many commands and have changed over time, and the United States Department of Defense uses exercise terms when referring to the DEFCONs. DEFCONs should not be confused with similar systems used by the U.S. 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.
DEFCON SYSTEM SERIES
ĭEFCONs are a subsystem of a series of Alert Conditions, or LERTCONs, that also includes Emergency Conditions (EMERGCONs). military, and increase in severity from DEFCON 5 (least severe) to DEFCON 1 (most severe) to match varying military situations. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness (or states of alert) for the U.S. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands. The defense readiness condition ( DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. For other uses, see Defcon (disambiguation).
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