Word: commanders
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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General David Jones, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, fears that the Soviets might use a single multimegaton airburst over the U.S. to strike the entire nation?and its defense nerve centers?deaf, dumb and blind. Insulating the American command-and-control network against EMP, to preclude the possibility that the U.S. might be unable to fire a single shot, is one of the many
...missile for missile, megaton for megaton, but it is necessary that the U.S. have the recognized capability to make the Soviets pay an unacceptably high price for aggression. Deterrence is more than just a matter of quantity and quality of weapons; it is also a matter of plans, procedures, command structure and vigorous, ongoing testing programs that will make the arms that have been deployed seem capable of being employed...
...have the option of "going nuclear." But for that option to be real, and for the American threat to be credible, there must be widespread acceptance of the proposition that U.S. forces would be "survivable and enduring." That is why General Jones is so concerned about protecting the U.S. command-and-control network from the disruptions of EMP. That is why there is an elaborate chain of command so that someone would always be empowered to transmit the "emergency
...action message" from a bunker at Fort Ritchie, Md., or from a National Emergency Airborne Command Post, nicknamed KNEECAP?actually, a souped-up Boeing 747 that has been "hardened" against nuclear effects (including...
...ICBM crews were crushed in their underground launch-control centers by a Soviet strike, their missiles could be launched, and in some cases even retargeted, by remote control from the Strategic Air Command's airborne command post, Looking Glass, which has a dual-key system. The firing could also be done automatically by the Emergency Rocket Communication System, a series of ultra-high-frequency radio packs launched into orbit in lieu of warheads by special iCBMs. If a submarine commander were cut off from communications, and if he were convinced that a nuclear war had begun, he would have...