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 71–1.
Overview
* REDCON-1: Full alert; unit ready to move and fight.
**
WMD alarms and hot loop equipment
hot loop equipment
/ref> stowed; OPs pulled in. (A hot loop is a field telephone circuit between the subunits of a company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
.)
** All personnel alert and mounted on vehicles; weapons manned.
** Engines started.
** Company team is ready to move immediately.
* REDCON-1.5
** WMD alarms and hot loop equipment stowed; OPs pulled in.
** All personnel alert and mounted on vehicles; weapons manned.
** Company team is ready to move immediately.
* REDCON-2: Full alert; unit ready to fight.
** Equipment stowed (except hot loop and WMD alarms).
** Precombat checks complete.
** All personnel alert and mounted in vehicles; weapons manned & charged, round in chamber, weapon on safe.
** (NOTE: Depending on the tactical situation and orders from the commander, dismounted OPs may remain in place.)
** All (100 percent) digital and FM communications links operational.
** Status reports submitted in accordance with task force SOP.
** Company team is ready to move within 15 minutes of notification.
* REDCON-3: Reduced alert.
** Fifty percent of the unit executes work and rest plans.
** Remainder of the unit executes security plan. Based on the commander's guidance and the enemy situation, some personnel executing the security plan may execute portions of the work plan.
** Company team is ready to move within 30 minutes of notification.
* REDCON-4: Minimum alert.
** OPs manned; one soldier per platoon designated to monitor radio and man turret weapons.
** Digital and FM links with task force and other company teams maintained.
** Company team is ready to move within one hour of notification.
See also
* 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 ...
* DEFCON
The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. For security reasons, the U.S. military does not announce a DEFCON level to the public.
The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Sta ...
* Force Protection Condition
* Redcon (2016 game)
References
External links
REDCON levels from Army Field Manual 71-1
on GlobalSecurity.org
Alert measurement systems
Military life
Military terminology of the United States
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