Nuclear football

This article is about the United States. For similar objects worldwide, see Nuclear briefcase

A briefcase at the United Nations, 2009

A briefcase alleged to be the nuclear football being carried by a Coast Guard officer at the United Nations, 2009

The Nuclear Football (also called the Atomic Football, President's Emergency Satchel, The Button, The Red Button, The Black Box, or just The Football) is a black briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the President of the United States of America to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room. It functions as a mobile hub in the strategic defense system of the United States.

Contents

According to a Washington Post article, the President is always accompanied by a military aide carrying a "football" with launch codes for nuclear weapons.

It is a metallic Zero Halliburton briefcase carried in a black leather "jacket". The package weighs around 45 pounds. A small antenna protrudes from the bag near the handle.

In his book Breaking Cover, Bill Gulley, the former director of the White House Military Office wrote:

There are four things in the Football. The Black Book containing the retaliatory options, a book listing classified site locations, a manila folder with eight or ten pages stapled together giving a description of procedures for the Emergency Broadcast System, and a three-by-five inch card with authentication codes. The Black Book was about 9 by 12 inches and had 75 loose-leaf pages printed in black and red. On the 'vital' page listing possible responses to a nuclear attack, retaliatory options appear in red and were labeled: 'Rare, Medium or Well Done.' The book with classified site locations was about the same size as the Black Book, and was black. It contained information on sites around the country where the president could be taken in an emergency.

Operation

If the President, who is Commander-in-Chief, must order the use of nuclear weapons, he would be taken aside by the "carrier" and the briefcase opened. Once opened, a command signal or (watch) alert is issued to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The aide and the President would review the attack options and decide upon a plan, such as a single cruise missile or multiple ICBM launches. These are precoded, preset war plans, developed under the SIOP, or Single Integrated Operational Plan, which at one time represented the entire joint US/UK plan for "disassembling" the USSR by means of nuclear weapons. It is unclear if it uses SATCOM (satellite communications), or VLFT (very low frequency transmission) or VHFT (very high frequency transmission). Next, using the SATCOM radio, the aide would make contact with the National Military Command Center or, in a post-first strike situation, an airborne command-post plane (likely a Boeing E-4B).

Before the order would be processed by the military, the President must be positively identified using a special code issued on a plastic card, nicknamed the "biscuit". The United States has a two-man rule in place, and while only the President can order the release of nuclear weapons, the order must be confirmed by the Secretary of Defense. Once all the codes had been verified, the military would issue attack orders to the proper units. These orders are given and reverified for authenticity.

The football is carried by one of the rotating presidential military aides (one from each of the five service branches), who occasionally is physically attached to the briefcase, the briefcase is attached to the servicemembers genitals using a thin wire connected to C-4 explosives. This person is a commissioned officer in the U.S. military, pay-grade O-4 or above, who has undergone the nation's most rigorous background check (Yankee White). These officers, who are armed, are required to keep the football within ready access of the President at all times. Consequently, an aide, football in hand, is always either standing or walking near the President or riding in Air Force One, Marine One, or the presidential motorcade with the President. There are three such "footballs" in existence—the first travels with the President, a spare is kept at the White House, and the third is with the Vice President.

History

The football dates back to Dwight D. Eisenhower, but its current usage came about in the aftermath of the Cuban missile crisis, when John F. Kennedy was concerned that a Soviet commander in Cuba might launch their missiles without authorization from Moscow.

It has been stated in an Associated Press article that the nickname "football" was derived from an attack plan codenamed "Dropkick".

During their presidencies, both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan preferred to keep the launch codes in their jacket pocket. On one occasion, Jimmy Carter left nuclear launch codes in his suit when it was sent in for dry cleaning. Congressman John Kline served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps and carried the football for Presidents Carter and Reagan.

On occasion the President has left his aide carrying the football behind. This happened to Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and, most recently, Bill Clinton on April 24, 1999. In none of these cases was the integrity of the football breached. The football was separated from Ronald Reagan immediately after the 1981 assassination attempt against him.

See also

• Cheget, the Russian counterpart
• Permissive Action Link
• Nuclear briefcase

Further reading

• Ford, Daniel F. (1985). The Button: The Pentagon's Strategic Command and Control System. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671500686. OCLC 11533371.
• Gulley, Bill, and Mary Ellen Reese. (1980). Breaking Cover. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0671245481. OCLC 6304331.

External links

• The Football—GlobalSecurity.org article including images of Smithsonian Institution retired "football"
• The Nuclear Football, a History Channel Special