Q: do you think he could manage (or they allow him) this on his own?
If the president (who is
commander-in-chief of the armed forces) decides to order the use of nuclear weapons, he or she would be taken aside by the "carrier" and the briefcase would be opened. A command signal, or "watch" alert, would then be issued to the
Joint Chiefs of Staff. The president would then review the attack options with the
secretary of defense and the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and decide on a plan, which could range from a single
cruise missile to multiple
ICBM launches. These are preset war plans developed under OPLAN 8010 (formerly the
Single Integrated Operational Plan). Then, using
Milstar, the aide, a military officer, would contact the
National Military Command Center and
NORAD to determine the scope of the
pre-emptive nuclear strike and prepare a
second strike, following which Milstar/
Advanced Extremely High Frequency or
Boeing E-4Bs and
TACAMOs would air the currently valid nuclear launch code to all nuclear delivery systems operational. Where a two-person verification procedure would be executed following this, the codes would be entered in a
Permissive Action Link.[
citation needed]
Before the order can be processed by the military, the president must be positively identified using a special code issued on a plastic card, nicknamed the "
biscuit".
[6] The United States has a
two-man rule in place at the nuclear launch facilities, and while only the president can order the release of nuclear weapons, the order must be verified by the
secretary of defense to be an authentic order given by the president (there is a
hierarchy of succession in
the event that the president is killed in an attack). This verification process deals solely with verifying that the order came from the actual president. The secretary of defense has no veto power and must comply with the president's order.
[6] Once all the codes have been verified, the military would issue attack orders to the proper units. These orders are given and then re-verified for authenticity.
It is argued that the president has almost sole authority to initiate a nuclear attack since the secretary of defense is required to verify the order, but cannot veto it.[7][8][9]
The football is carried by one of the rotating presidential military aides, whose work schedule is described by a top-secret rota (one from each of the five
service branches). 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).
[10][11] These officers are required to keep the football readily accessible to the president at all times. Consequently, the aide, football in hand, is always either standing or walking near the president, including riding on
Air Force One,
Marine One, or the
presidential motorcade with the president.
[11]
The operational plan for nuclear strike orders is entirely concerned with the identity of the commanding officer and the authenticity of the order, and there are no safeguards to verify that the person issuing the order is actually sane. Notably, Major Harold Hering was discharged from the Air Force in late 1973 for asking the question "How can I know that an order I receive to launch my missiles came from a sane president?" [12]
The vice president, the secretary of defense, and the deputy secretary of defense also have nuclear footballs.[
citation neede
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