

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. 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). The Sixth Fleet resumed its normal DEFCON status on 17 November 1973."Defense condition" redirects here. On 31 October USEUCOM (less the Sixth Fleet) went off DEFCON III status. On 26 October, CINCSAC and CINCONAD reverted to normal DEFCON status. forces went on Defense Condition (DEFCON) III alert status, as possible intervention by the Soviet Union was feared. On 6 October 1973 Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a surprise attack on Israel. On 15 November 1965 the day Strategic Air Command (SAC) postured down to defense condition (DEFCON) III. Tension grew and the next day SAC declared DEFCON II, a heightened state of alert, ready to strike targets within the Soviet Union. On 22 October 1962 SAC responded by establishing Defense Condition Three (DEFCON III), and ordered B-52s on airborne alert. )ĭuring the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US Strategic Air Command was placed on DEFCON 2 for the first time in history, while the rest of US military commands (with the exception of the US Air Forces in Europe) went on DEFCON 3.
