Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - DEFCON

Episode Date: April 25, 2021

Historically, an army would have days, weeks, or even months to prepare for war. However, with the development of intercontinental missiles and nuclear weapons, the time for preparation was reduced to hours or even minutes. In light of these changes, it was necessary to develop a system that allowed for rapid mobilization and readiness. Learn more about the DEFCON system, and the history of its level changes, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historically, an army could have days, weeks, or even months to prepare for a war. However, with the development of intercontinental missiles and nuclear weapons, the time for preparation was reduced to hours or even minutes. In light of those changes, it was necessary to develop a system that allowed for rapid mobilization and readiness. Learn more about the DefCon system and the history of its level changes on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong?

throughline is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by Scotty Vest. I recently purchased a new M1 MacBook Air laptop. It's a wonderful laptop, which is incredibly thin and light. It doesn't even require a heavy power brick to charge it.

I can just use a USB cable. I say this not to tout the device, but the fact that it's the size of a tablet means that instead of needing a backpack for my laptop, I can now carry everything with me that I need to work away from home in the pockets of my Scotty vest jacket. As technology gets lighter and thinner, Scotty vest jackets just keep working better and better.

You can get 15% off your next order by going to scottyvest.com and using coupon code, everything everywhere, all one word at checkout. In 1957, the United States and Canada announced the creation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD. Their mission was to monitor the skies above North America, primarily to detect incoming Soviet bombers or missiles. As part of the development of the command, they created a warning system so they could

mobilize defense forces at a moment's notice. However, the first system they put in place was very confusing and complicated. It consists of three readiness levels subdivided into eight conditions. This was quickly replaced in 1959 with a simplified alert system of five different levels of readiness. This was known as the Defense Readiness Condition, or DefCon. The Defcon system allowed for military units around the world to quickly adopt a state of readiness, regardless of what conditions might develop on the world stage. The Defcon levels are numbered from 1 through 5. Contrary to popular belief, the lowest state of readiness is DefCon 5.

If someone says they're going to go DefCon 5 on someone, what they are really saying is that they're going to stand down and become very peaceful. So what does each DefConn level represent? DefCon 5 is the lowest state of readiness. As I write this, that is the current DefCon level. Hopefully, when you listen to this, it will also be DefCon 5. DefCon 5 has been the default state of readiness since the end of the Cold War. When drills are conducted, there are exercise names used in the place of DefCon levels, so there's no confusion as, to the orders executed during the exercise versus actual operation orders.

The exercise name for DefCon 5 is Fade Out. DefCon 4 was a common level of readiness for ICBM sites during the Cold War. It's defined as having an increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures. DefCon 4 might be announced if there's an airstrike and there's concerns about possible retaliation at a military base. Things might go on higher alert, but most people would have no clue that an was any different. The exercise term for Defcon 4 is double-take. DefCon 3 is a much higher state of readiness. This is something that very rarely happens. At DefCon 3, for example, pilots might be in flight suits on standby next to their planes. Soldiers and missile silos might close their blast doors.

Whereas most people, even military forces might not notice DefCon 4. Almost everyone in uniform will probably be aware of DefCon 3. The exercise term for DefCon 3, the exercise term for DefCon 3, is Roundhouse. If things get to DefCon 2, it's pretty bad. DefCon 2 is the next step to war. At DefCon 2, there are bombers in the air. The president is probably an Air Force 1 or is on their way to a safe location.

Everyone in the world with access to electronic media will probably be aware of whatever is happening if things get to DefCon 2. The exercise name for DefCon 2 is fast pace. DefCon 1 is basically a nuclear war. At DefCon 1, there would probably be air raid sirens going off. The emergency broadcast system is probably blaring, and everyone would be asked to go to a shelter. Any and all contingency plans for any level of government would be implemented at DefCon 1. The exercise name for DefCon 1 is cocked pistol.

I should note that the DefCon levels only apply to nuclear war and not normal conventional military conflicts. Also, defcon levels are not necessarily global. Specific regions or just branches of the military can be placed at different Defcon levels. In the 60 years that the Defcon system has been in place, there have only been a handful of times when the Defcon level has been placed at three or higher. DefCon 3 was declared on October 25, 1973, during the Yom Kippur War between Israel and several Arab countries. The United States was concerned about Soviet involvement in the war on the side of their Arab allies. They wanted to make a sudden and dramatic gesture to indicate to the Soviets that they were serious and they would prevent such an action. They did this by putting all U.S. forces around the world at DefCon 3.

Reports from soldiers serving at the time indicate that most of them assumed it was a drill at first, but when there were no officers around to observe, they knew something was up. U.S. forces gradually stood down over the next few days and weeks, with the last forces going off DefCon 3 on November 17. The next use of DefCon 3 was in 1976, but it was limited to forces in South Korea. This was in response to the demilitarized zone Axe murder incident, which was a thing and is going to be the subject of a future episode. Few people outside of South Korea even knew what was happening and DefCon 3 status was only for a single day. The third and most recent time DefCon 3 was reached was on September 11, 2001, after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. All U.S. forces worldwide were placed at DefCon 3.

While the DefCon system wasn't developed for terrorist threats, it was the only tool available to put global forces, especially military bases, on alert, and to get them to secure their perimeters. In the first few hours after the attack, there was a great deal of confusion, so raising the DefCon level was the easiest way to put everyone in a state of readiness. The word also went out that DefCon 2 was a possibility, but that never happened. Have things ever escalated to DefCon? 2? The answer is yes, and it's happened twice. But in neither case, however, was there a global

DefCon 2 level established? The first time was during the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 16, 1962. NORAD and the Strategic Air Command were placed at DefCon 2, and all their forces worldwide were placed at DefCon 3. All the forces stayed at this level until November 15th when they stood down and the crisis was over. The only other time forces were put at DefCon 2 was in 1991 at the start of Operation Desert Storm, and this only applied to forces in the Middle East who were in the theater of combat. As for DefCon 1, that thankfully has never happened, and hopefully it never will. If it ever does, I'm sure you won't need a podcaster to tell you what was going on. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. If you'd like to support

the show, please donate over at patreon.com. There is content only available to supporters, merchandise, and even opportunities for a show producer credit. If you know someone you think would enjoy the show, please share it with them. Also remember, if you leave a five-star review, I'll read your review on the show. General DBS is tracking 300 inbound Soviet-ins. Tell me this is one of your simulations. Let's not get free. All right.

Flush the bombers, get the subs and launch mode. We are at Def-Con 1. Just God one.