United States government in Jericho
This page outlines the response of the remnants of the United States government to nuclear war in the CBS series Jericho.
Federal response to the attacks
| First referenced | Agency | Unit or division | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 101 ("Pilot") | N/A | N/A | At the time the first explosions were noted from Jericho, the President was in the midst of addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress. Since Washington, D.C. was reported as having been totally destroyed in the attack, it is very likely that the President and most of the people in the upper echelons of the federal government and supreme military leaders were killed. |
| CIA | Special Task Force | Robert Hawkins is dispatched to Jericho just prior to the explosion of several bombs Hawkins had intended to keep from going off. (CIA affiliation does not become clear until Episode 12, "The Day Before") | |
| Episode 103 ("Four Horsemen") | DoD | 131st Fighter Wing, Missouri Air National Guard | F-16s spotted over Kansas, as described by two pilots during the attacks, on a recovered cockpit voice recorder. One of the pilots believes that the F-16s are from the 131st Fighter Wing, Missouri Air National Guard, originating at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. In real life, the 131st Fighter Wing flies the F-15, not the F-16. |
| DoD | Kansas Army National Guard | Stanley reveals he saw five tanks on I-70 heading west. It's not known where they came from, but it is suspected that they're from a National Guard unit in Goodland, Kansas. | |
| Episode 105 ("Federal Response") | DHS | FEMA | Reverse-911 phone call from the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, asking everyone not to leave, and assuring that help and further information is on the way. |
| FCC/FEMA/NWS | The Emergency Alert System is seen on the television feed and is later replaced with a podium bearing a US State Department agency seal, but the signal is lost before anyone comes into view to speak. | ||
| DoD | USAF Space Command | At the end of the fifth episode, there is a rumbling and people rush outside to see ballistic missiles rocketing upward, which are presumed to be American. | |
| Episode 107 ("Long Live the Mayor") | DHS | FEMA | Gray Anderson reports that FEMA is operating refugee camps and that FEMA is running water to these camps, including one at Rogue River. |
| NYPD | ESU | The Bomb in New York was prevented from going off because NYPD has apprehended the bombers before the attacks | |
| Episode 108 ("Rogue River") | DHS | FEMA | As Jake and Eric enter Rogue River they see FEMA evacuation symbols on the doors of houses indicating the date of evacuation and the number of alive/dead found. They also see leaflets scattered about the town from FEMA warning of the contamination of groundwater from the nuclear explosion in Lawrence, Kansas. |
| Ravenwood | When Jake and Eric meet a Ravenwood mercenary at the top of the County Hospital in Rogue River, he says that Ravenwood were hired by Homeland Security because there were not enough National Guard in Kansas. | ||
| Episode 110 ("Red Flag") | unknown | PLAAF (aircraft) USAF (equipment) |
Chinese supply air drops are conducted over Kansas air space by Russian-made planes from the 1970s (identified by Jake as two Antonov bombers, and two MiG 19 fighter-escorts) using parachutes that utilize a modern U.S. Air Force RFID tracking technology. In reality Antonov only produce transport based aircraft and the PLA has retired the MiG-19 (known as the J-6 in Chinese parlance). |
| Episode 113 ("Black Jack") | N/A | N/A | When a party from Jericho visits the Black Jack Fairgrounds trading post, they are told that the federal government has split into at least six competing factions, with six Presidents claiming authority, and each with his own political and military allies. They are also told that some of the supply air drops in other areas were carried out by Germany. See the synopsis of "Black Jack" for more detailed information about the political situation. |
| Episode 115 ("Semper Fidelis") | DoD | 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, USMC | The fraudulent Marines stated that an actual company of Marines were dispatched to their refugee camp, leaving behind several weapons and an M1 Abrams tank when abandoning the camp. |
| Episode 122 ("Why We Fight") | DoD | USMC US Army Aviation Branch |
Regiment-size Marine unit and Army/Marine aviation units are stationed on the Camp Liberty, Nebraska under Colonel Hoffman's command. |
| Episode 201 ("Reconstruction") | DoD | Joint Task Force | Combined Army, Air Force, Marine units are dispatched to stop violent incidents between Jericho and New Bern under Colonel Hoffman's order. |
| DoD | US Army 10th Mountain Division | Detachment of 10th Mountain Division lead by Major Beck is dispatched to Jericho and New Bern. |
FEMA Camps
Shortly after the bombs went off, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) successfully setup refugee camps near blast sites. There are presumably numerous camps (with varying conditions), but only a few are specifically mentioned -- Topeka ("Long Live the Mayor"), West Chicago Camp ("Casus Belli"), a camp near Baltimore ("Black Jack"), and a camp (unknown location) with 10,000 refugees ("Semper Fidelis"). A camp in Lexington, Kentucky was also mentioned by Sarah Mason in the online video segment Ask the Mystery Woman. Semper Fidelis also noted that food riots occurred in the West Chicago Camp, resulting in the overpowering of their Marine guards.
Foreign relations
One of the questions posed to Robert Hawkins in his segments on the CBS website is whether any targets outside of the U.S. were attacked. His response is that he hasn't heard of any, but that "it wouldn't surprise [him]". Since Hawkins clearly had detailed knowledge of the group which carried out the bombings, this would seem to at least leave the possibility open. However, no specific foreign targets have yet been named within the series, or on the official site. The fake Marines in "Semper Fidelis" said that North Korea and Iran were attacked in retaliation by the U.S., which was confirmed to be done by the Allied States under the orders of President Tomarchio in "retaliation for the September bombings". There is no mention of any foreign attacks in the later episode "A.K.A.".
Also, China and Germany have apparently performed several air supply drops to U.S. citizens (mostly food, but also mechanical and medical supplies).
United States flag
In the season finale, "Why We Fight", Heather Lisinski sees what appears to be an alternate U.S. flag flying at Camp Liberty in southern Nebraska. Early advertisements for season two have revealed that it is the flag of the newly renamed "Allied States of America."
The flag has 13 vertical stripes, alternating red and white, with 21 stars arranged in a closed octagon upon a blue field. The design of this ensign echoes the historical representation of the United States Treasury Department Revenue Ensign[1][2], which has been described as representing civil maritime law enforcement agency as opposed to a military maritime law enforcement agency. The Revenue Ensign, however, contains 16 vertical stripes in homage of the 16 States in the Union at the time the Ensign was designed. A flag similar to this was at one time flown over U.S. Customs buildings, and being slightly modified is in use by the US Coast Guard.
A similar change can be seen on the shoulders of troops, who are now wearing a badge with the new flag. Changes of this nature are not unheard of during a time of war. When the United States entered World War II in 1941, individual soldiers and equipment were identified as American by a symbol with a red ball, inside a white star, inside a blue circle (see GHQ Air Force). The red ball was sometimes mistaken for the Japanese Rising Sun flag and often fired upon.