Nuclear Football

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The Nuclear Football, otherwise known as the President's Emergency Satchel, and sometimes also referred to as The Button, is a specially-outfitted, black-colored briefcase used by the President of the United States to authorize the use of nuclear weapons. Adopted to permit the President to make a nuclear attack order while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room, it functions as a mobile node in the strategic defense system of the United States. While exact details about the Football are highly classified, several sources have provided information regarding the bag, its contents, and operation.

Contents 1 Contents 2 Operation 3 History 4 Trivia 4.1 In fiction 4.2 Non-fiction 5 References

[edit] Contents

It is presumed to hold a secure SATCOM radio and handset for communication, the daily nuclear launch codes (known as the "Gold Codes"), and any other materials that the president would rely on should a decision to use nuclear weapons need to be made. These include summaries of various pre-determined attack options as well as plans to handle the national emergency that a nuclear attack, or possible nuclear retaliation, would provoke. These materials are generated by, respectively, the National Security Agency (Gold Codes contained in the "Play Book"), the United States Strategic Command (attack options), and the United States National Security Council (security/continuity-of-government plans).

The case itself is a metallic, possibly bullet-resistant, modified Zero Halliburton briefcase which is carried inside a black leather "jacket." The entire package weighs approximately 40 pounds (18 kg). A small antenna, presumably for the SATCOM radio, protrudes from the bag near the handle. Contrary to popular belief, the Football is not handcuffed to its carrier. Rather, a black cable is employed that loops around the handle of the bag and the wrist of the aide.

[edit] Operation

The Nuclear Football functions as the primary "trigger" on America's nuclear arsenal. According to experts, in the event the president elects to deploy nuclear arms, the commander-in-chief would be taken aside, where the aide would open the briefcase. At that point, the aide and the president would review the attack options and decide upon a particular plan, whether that be a single cruise missile, or a large-scale ICBM launch. Next, using the SATCOM radio, the aide would make contact with the National Military Command Center or, in a post first-strike situation, an airborne command post plane (likely a Boeing E-4B). Before the order is processed by the military, the president must positively identify himself using a special code issued to him on a plastic card, nicknamed the "biscuit." Once all the codes have been verified, the military will issue attack orders to the proper units.

The Football is carried by one of the rotating Presidential Military Aides (one from each of the five service branches), who occasionally is physically attached to the briefcase. 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). These officers, who are armed, are required to keep the Football within ready access of the president at all times. Consequently, an aide, Football in hand, is always either standing or walking near the president or riding in Air Force One, Marine One, or the presidential motorcade with him.

[edit] History

The Football dates back to President Eisenhower, but its current usage came about in the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy worried about the commander-in-chief's ability to authorize a nuclear attack. First, he was worried that a nuclear attack order would be given without his permission. Second, in an era without cellular telephones, Kennedy felt that he would be unable to make and communicate a nuclear attack decision unless he was at a location hardwired to the Pentagon. The result of these concerns was an overhaul of America’s nuclear weapons command and control system, including the invention of a remote node for the decision making system. This node was the Nuclear Football.

[edit] Trivia

• During their presidencies, Jimmy Carter always carried the launch codes in his jacket, while Ronald Reagan preferred to keep the launch codes in his wallet.

• President Jimmy Carter once left nuclear launch codes in his suit when it was sent in for dry cleaning.^[1]

• It has been suggested that the nickname Football was derived from an attack plan codenamed "Drop-Kick."^[2]

• Several presidents have had politically embarrassing episodes where the Football was left behind at an unsecure location. This happened to Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush [2] and, most recently, Bill Clinton on April 24, 1999^[3]. In none of these cases was the integrity of the football breached.

• It has been speculated that the emergency plans in the Football were consulted by President Bush aboard Air Force One on September 11, 2001.^[2]

[edit] In fiction

• The Football played a major role in the plot of the fourth season of the television program 24.

• The Football makes a brief appearance in the film Air Force One, when a terrorist hijacking of the president's plane results in the activation of a new football back in the White House.

• "The Football" was both the title and the plot of a second season episode of the television program Seven Days.

• The Football was one of the key plot points in the video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.

• The Football features heavily in the novel Area 7, by Matthew Reilly.

• President Richard Nixon carries a metallic, football-shaped device chained to his wrist in DC Comics Watchmen Volume 10, during a potential crisis with the Soviet Union.

• The Football played a small role in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

• The Football was featured in the climactic sequence of the film The Sum of All Fears

• The Football played a small role within an episode of NCIS

• The Football was used in a side story of an episode of JAG, when Lieutenant Bud Roberts was selected to carry it for President Bill Clinton. Bud went to use the bathroom, and accidentally was left behind. He had to run a few blocks back to the White House.

[edit] Non-fiction

• In his book Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Compromised America's National Security, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Buzz Patterson writes of his experiences as one of the individuals that carried the Football for President Clinton.

[edit] References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ ^{a b} Military aides still carry the president's nuclear 'football'
3. ^ Clinton drops nuclear football

• GlobalSecurity.org article including images of Smithsonian Institute retired "football"
• History Channel Special on the Nuclear Football [3]
• Ford, Daniel. 1985. The Button. New York: Simon and Schuster.