WATCHCON (Watch Condition)
Transcript : DoD News Briefing : Tuesday, April 9, 1996 - 2p.m
United States Department of Defense. Accessed June 28, 2009. is an alert state
An alert state or state of alert is an indication of the state of readiness of the armed forces for military action or a state against natural disasters, terrorism or military attack. The term frequently used is "on high alert". Examples scales i ...
system used by and coordinated between the South Korean armed forces
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces (), also known as the ROK Armed Forces, are the armed forces of South Korea. The ROK Armed Forces is one of the largest and most powerful standing armed forces in the world with a reported personnel strength of ...
and United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
to measure reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
posture, utilized often in matters concerning North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
.[OPLAN 5027 Major Theater War - West](_blank)
GlobalSecurity.org. Accessed June 28, 2009.
Hierarchy of Stages
There are four WATCHCON stages.
* WATCHCON 4 is in effect during normal peacetime.
* WATCHCON 3 is in effect amidst indications of an important threat.
* WATCHCON 2 is in effect amidst indications of a vital threat.
* WATCHCON 1 is in effect during wartime.
See also
* DEFCON
The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. (DEFCON is not mentioned in the 2010 and newer document)
The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and spe ...
* Force Protection Condition
In United States military security parlance, force protection condition (FPCON for short) is a counter-terrorist threat system overseen by the United States Department of Defense directive, and describes the number of measures needed to be taken b ...
* LERTCON In United States military doctrine, LERTCON is an abbreviation of alert condition, and is a measure of the level of action and readiness to be taken in a given situation. LERTCON is used by US and Allied forces who are assigned to NATO. There are sp ...
* REDCON
In the U.S. military, the term REDCON is short for Readiness Condition and is used to refer to a unit's readiness to respond to and engage in combat operations. There are five REDCON levels, as described below in this excerpt from Army Field Manual ...
References
Alert measurement systems
United States military in South Korea
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