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1 [1] (December 1, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmbbzb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 1Congressinal Research Service December 1, 2016 Defense Primer: Command and Control of Nuclear Forces The U.S. President has sole authority to authorize the use of U.S. nuclear weapons. This authority is inherent in his constitutional role as Commander in Chief. The President can seek counsel from his military advisors; those advisors are then required to transmit and implement the orders authorizing nuclear use. But, as General John Hyten, the Commander of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), noted during his September 2016 confirmation hearing, his job is to give advice, while the authority to order a launch lies with the president. The President does not need the concurrence of either his military advisors or the U.S. Congress to order the launch of nuclear weapons. In addition, neither the military nor Congress can overrule these orders. As former STRATCOM Commander General Robert Kehler noted in a recent article, members of the military are bound by the Uniform Code of Military Justice to follow orders provided they are legal and have come from competent authority. The President could delegate the authority to authorize the use of nuclear weapons to others in the chain- of-command (an option considered necessary during the Cold War), but they could not overrule the President. The Nuclear Command and Control System (NCCS) According to the Nuclear Matters Handbook, published by the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters, the elements of the nuclear command and control system (NCCS) support the President, through his military commanders, in exercising presidential authority over U.S. nuclear weapons operations. The system relies on a collection of activities, processes, and procedures performed by appropriate military commanders and support personnel that, through the chain of command, allow for senior-level decisions on nuclear weapons employment. Specifically, the NCCS provides the President with the means to authorize the use of nuclear weapons in a crisis and to prevent unauthorized or accidental use. The NCCS collects information on threats to the United States, communicates that information through the chain of command to the President, advises the President on options for a response, communicates the President's chosen response to the forces in the field, and controls the targeting and application of those forces. The process begins with the radars, satellites, and processing systems that provide unambiguous, reliable, accurate, timely, survivable, and enduring warning about attacks on the United States, its allies, and its forces overseas. In a scenario where the system identifies an attack or an anomalous event, the President would participate in an emergency communications conference with the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other military advisors. They would offer the President details and an assessment of the possible incoming attack, while the STRATCOM Commander would explain the President's options for a retaliatory attack. The President would then evaluate and respond to the information provided in the conference, then decide whether to authorize the use of U.S. nuclear weapons. He would communicate his choices and provide this authorization through a communications device known as the nuclear football-a suitcase carried by a military aid who is always near the President. The suitcase is equipped with communication tools and a book with prepared war plans for certain targets. The President could choose from these prepared plans or, time permitting, ask STRATCOM to prepare an alternative. If the President did choose to respond with a nuclear attack, he would identify himself to military officials at the Pentagon with codes unique to him. These codes are recorded on an ID card, known as the biscuit, that the President carries at all times. He would then transmit the launch order to the Pentagon and STRATCOM. The Secretary of Defense would establish the legality of the order by confirming that it came from the President, and STRATCOM would implement the order by preparing to launch the weapons needed for the selected option. According to Bruce Blair, an former missile launch control officer considered an expert on U.S. command and control, once the order is transmitted to the war room, they would execute it in a minute or so. If an immediate response was selected, the (land-based) Minuteman missiles will fire in two minutes. The submarines will fire in 15 minutes. Blair also notes that there is no way to reverse the order. Options for Nuclear Use As General Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA noted, the system is designed for speed and decisiveness. It's not designed to debate the decision. Long-range missiles attacking the United States from Russian territory could reach U.S. territory in around 30 minutes; sea-based systems deployed closer to U.S shores might arrive in half that time. If the United States wanted to retaliate before U.S. weapons, or, more importantly, the U.S. command and control system, were degraded by an attack, then the entire process of identifying, assessing, communicating, deciding, and launching would have to take place in less than that amount of time. Given that some of the time would be taken up by mechanical or administrative steps, analysts estimate that the President would have less than 10 minutes to absorb the information, review his options, and make his decision. The United States planned for such a scenario during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union deployed thousands of www.crs.gov i 7-5700 0

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