Back when I was a desker at a daily newspaper, my sports boss would sometimes say, “Gentlemen, it’s DEFCON 3.” That meant, "Time to get busy," and start desking and proofing pages because we were in the proverbial ditch. We had a deadline, and we had to meet it. Otherwise, we would catch holy hell..Yes, those were the days..But what exactly does DEFCON mean, anyway? Well, Defence Readiness Condition is the American gradation for readiness to withstand a nuclear attack..Surely it was no joking matter then, nor would it be today in a world where the Mad Russian might just decide to nuke us..For just recently, Russia's President Vladimir Putin used the first anniversary of the Ukraine invasion to escalate his nuclear threats and announce that Moscow is suspending participation in the only remaining arms control agreement between his country and the US. In his speech, delivered to the Federal Assembly in Moscow on February 21, Putin also said Russia is ready to resume nuclear weapons testing if the US does..Professor Steve Fetter from Maryland University, a nuclear disarmament expert and former White House adviser, told NHK News the "risks of catastrophe are higher today than last year, perhaps than ever before, largely due to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the threats that Putin has issued.".So, should we enter the world of DEFCON again, here’s how it works..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..In other words, stay cool, relax … it’s all OK..DEFCON 4, according to a report in Military.com, describes the everyday operating procedures for fighting units. At DEFCON 4, the U.S. military complex ramps up intelligence gathering and shores up security. It 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 same memo. In fact, most forces are usually at DEFCON 4 or 5. That means us too, in Canada..No need to get your shorts in a knot..DEFCON 3.This is not good, however. Trouble is brewing. We are just 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. The memo says it represents “a readiness posture that requires certain portions of the assigned forces to assume an increased readiness posture above that of normal readiness.” .For example during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, various parts of the U.S. military were at DEFCON 3. And that was the closest mankind has ever come to nuclear combat. Over a decade later, in 1973, President Richard Nixon put the U.S. military on DEFCON 3 during the Yom Kippur War, as Moscow was reportedly preparing to launch an attack in the Middle East..DEFCON 2.This is one step from nuclear war, and is implemented when an enemy attack is expected. Troops are poised for combat. It 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. During this stage, the U.S. will have “subs at sea and the bombers waiting on the runways.”.Hug your family, and hope for the best..DEFCON 1.The most urgent alert, DEFCON 1, represents the highest level of readiness for nuclear war..DEFCON 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. It represents “a maximum readiness posture requiring the highest state of preparedness to execute war plans,” the Joint Chiefs memo says..It is like a cocked pistol. It means essentially that we are done for. Thankfully since the system began, the US has never been at DEFCON 1 — at least not to the public’s knowledge..So, does the US military release the DEFCON level?.No, they don’t..For security reasons, the U.S. military never publicly releases the current DEFCON level. In February 2022, a senior official with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) confirmed..What is the highest DEFCON level ever reached?.During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the U.S. elevated the Strategic Air Command to DEFCON 2. Unknown to most of the American public, the US was on the brink of a nuclear war that would have destroyed civilization as we know it. That’s how close, we came to Armageddon..Everything … gone. Imagine. This U.S. decision to escalate Strategic Air Command to DEFCON 2 was a response to a threat by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. B-52 bombers were placed on continuous airborne alert, reservists were recalled and the U.S. nuclear arsenal was put on alert status..Let’s hope, we never get there, again.
