The Post Attack Command and Control System (PACCS) was a network of communication sites (both ground and airborne) for use before, during and after a nuclear attack on the United States. PACCS was designed to ensure that National Command Authority would retain exclusive and complete control over US

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s. Among other components, it included

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

assets such as the Looking Glass aircraft and mission, and various hardened

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...

facilities. The belief by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in the reliability of PACCS was a crucial component of the US

mutual assured destruction Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy which posits that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by an attacker on a nuclear-armed defender with second-strike capabilities would cause the ...

doctrine, ensuring a long-term

stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior ...

History

The

headquarters staff, under the direction of General

Thomas S. Power General Thomas Sarsfield Power (June 18, 1905 – December 6, 1970) was a United States Air Force officer who served as commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command. He was an active military flier for more than 30 years. Early career Thomas ...

assessed the feasibility of placing a continuous command and control element in an airborne mode. The purpose of such a system would be to use the aircraft as a platform for specially installed communications equipment to ensure delivery of command directives to SAC strike forces in the event ground-based headquarters were destroyed. The original plan envisioned an aircraft, crew, and command and control team on 15-minute ground alert. This was later changed to a continuous airborne alert posture. The functions of this PACCS Airborne Command Post kept expanding until it became a true alternate command and control system, complete with force status monitoring, initiation or relay of launch/execution directives, a battle staff, communications to support an alternate CINCSAC, and limited capabilities to reconstitute and replan residual resources. PACCS, in later variants, included an Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) capability, which provided an alternate means for execution message delivery to

missile combat crew A missile combat crew (MCC), is a team of highly trained specialists, often called missileers, staffing Intermediate Range and Intercontinental ballistic missile systems (IRBMs and ICBMs, respectively). In the United States, personnel, officially c ...

s and a back-up launch control center, forcing the

to target each missile silo, rather than just the launch control centers to incapacitate the

Minuteman Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

force.

Components

Airborne

* E-4B National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) ** 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron - Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska * EC-135 Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) "Looking Glass" ** 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron - Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska ** 4th Airborne Command and Control Squadron -

Ellsworth Air Force Base Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located about northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota, just north of the town of Box Elder, South Dakota, Box Elder. The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW). Assi ...

, South Dakota ** 22d Air Refueling Squadron -

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB) is located in Riverside County, California between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Command's Fo ...

, California; West Auxiliary Command Post (West AUXCP) ***Ground Entry Point - Lamar, ColoradoIRIS #010808041 - Post Attack Command and Control System overview
/ref> **

99th Air Refueling Squadron The 99th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, but is stationed at Birmingham Air National Guard Base, Alabama. It is an Active Associate Unit, an active duty component attached to the Al ...

Westover Air Force Base Westover may refer to: People * Al Westover (born 1954), American professional basketball player in Australia * Arthur Westover (1864–1935), Canadian sport shooter and 1908 Olympian * Charles Westover (1934–1990), better known as Del Shannon, ...

, Massachusetts; East Auxiliary Command Post (East AUXCP) ***Ground Entry Point - Plano, Illinois **

913th Air Refueling Squadron The first predecessor of the squadron was organized in 1940 as the 13th Transport Squadron. During World War II, as the 13th Troop Carrier Squadron, the squadron served in the South West Pacific Theater of World War II, earning two Distingui ...

- Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; Central Auxiliary Command Post (Central AUX) ***Ground Entry Point - Lyons, Nebraska * EB-47L ** 4362d Post Attack Command and Control Squadron -

Lincoln Air Force Base Lincoln Airport (formerly Lincoln Municipal Airport) is a public/military airport northwest of downtown Lincoln, the state capital, in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Lincoln Airport Authority and is the second- ...

, Nebraska ** 4363d Post Attack Command and Control Squadron -

Lockbourne Air Force Base Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base is an Ohio Air National Guard installation located near Lockbourne in southern Franklin County. The base was named for the famous early aviator and Columbus native Eddie Rickenbacker. It is the home of ...

, Ohio ** 4364th Post Attack Command and Control Squadron - Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho ** 4365th Post Attack Command and Control Squadron - Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York

Ground

* Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana (

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

(later Eighth Air Force) Command Post) * Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts (

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

Combat Operations Center, aka "The Notch") * March Air Force Base, California ( Fifteenth Air Force Command Post) *

Grissom Air Force Base Grissom Air Reserve Base is a United States Air Force base, located about north of Kokomo in Cass and Miami counties in Indiana. The facility was established as a U.S. Navy installation, Naval Air Station Bunker Hill, in 1942 and was an active ...

, Indiana * Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska (

Headquarters) **

Headquarters Emergency Relocation Team Headquarters Emergency Relocation Team (HERT) was a subordinate unit to the United States' Strategic Air Command (SAC) during the Cold War, poised to provide command and control (C2) of SAC forces in the event of a national emergency (i.e. nuclear ...

(HERT) -

Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant The Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant was built by the US army beginning in 1942 to produce munitions during World War II. The plant produced munitions during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. It is located west of Grand Island, ...

, Grand Island, NebraskaYahoo! Groups: Cold War Comms Msg 17285, dated Jun 24, 2010
/ref>

Communications

Survivable Low Frequency Communications System The AN/FRC-117 Survivable Low Frequency Communications System (SLFCS) was a communications system designed to be able to operate, albeit at low data transfer rates, during and after a nuclear attack. The system used both very low frequency (VLF), an ...

- VLF/LF *Alpha and Bravo Nets - High Frequency * Green Pine *

Emergency Rocket Communications System The Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS) was designed to provide a reliable and survivable emergency communications method for the United States National Command Authority, using a UHF repeater placed atop a Blue Scout rocket or Minu ...

Gallery

File:PACCS Alpha Net.JPG, ALPHA Net stations File:PACCS UHF Links.JPG, PACCS UHF Links File:PACCS Primary Alert System.JPG, PACCS Primary Alert System

References

External links

WWABNCP/PACCS patches
{{USAF system codes Telecommunications equipment of the Cold War United States nuclear command and control Continuity of government in the United States Nuclear bunkers in the United States