COGCON ("continuity of government readiness condition") is a

United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

readiness level, roughly analogous to the

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system, tracking the readiness of the government in the event of an emergency. The system was introduced in National Security Presidential Directive 51, signed by

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

on May 4, 2007 and can also be found in the 102 page national continuity plan. In the event of a catastrophic national emergency a shadow government can be activated to facilitate the execution of essential state functions with the assistance of the emergency relocation groups assigned to each federal agency and to a specific secure location to be activated as the COGCON level increases. For example, the

Raven Rock Mountain Complex The Raven Rock Mountain Complex (RRMC), also known as Site R, is a U.S. military installation with an underground nuclear bunker near Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, at Raven Rock Mountain that has been called an "underground Pentagon". The ...

, otherwise known as Site R, will act as an alternative military command centre in the event that other primary command posts are taken offline during an emergency.

Levels

* COGCON 4 represents normal

peacetime Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

operations. * COGCON 3 is a state of heightened readiness, with some government officials required to notify a Watch Office as to their location. During the U.S. State of the Union address, the COGCON is raised to this level and a cabinet member is the "

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." * COGCON 2 calls for deployment to a relocation facility with four hours notice. * COGCON 1 calls for the

to be relocated to secure, fully staffed bunkers such as the

Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a government command facility in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia, used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Also known as the High Point Special Facili ...

References

{{reflist Alert measurement systems Continuity of government in the United States