Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnews!military
From: GA.CJJ@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU (Clifford Johnson)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: DEFCONs
Message-ID: <1990Jul23.201515.5014@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 23 Jul 90 20:15:15 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 21
Approved: military@att.att.com



From:      "Clifford Johnson" <GA.CJJ@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
> DefCon 1, and it stands for Defense Condition 1, a nuclear war.
> DefCon 2 , I believe, is a conventional War
> DefCon 3 , an Alert condition (Hostilities Imminent) [sp?]
> DefCon 4 is a standard condition..(you know, peace)

Not quite.

There are five basic levels of U.S. military alert,
called DEFCON (DEFense readiness CONdition) 1 through 5.

DEFCON 5 (code-named "Fade Out") corresponds to normal
peacetime, DEFCON 1 ("Cocked-Pistol") to general war.  SAC is
routinely maintained at DEFCON 4 ("Double Take").  DEFCON 3
("Round House") is an advanced alert in which war is deemed
possible, and DEFCON 2 ("Fast Pace") is a full alert signifying
that war is imminent.

To:  MILITARY@ATT.ATT.COM