Post-Attack Command and Control System: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Former US nuclear communications network}}

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[[File:PACCS peacetime orbit areas 1972.PNG|thumb|upright=1.35|Peacetime orbits of PACCS aircraft ({{ca|1972}})]]

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 warfare|nuclear attack]] on the United States. PACCS was designed to ensure that [[National Command Authority (United States)|National Command Authority]] would retain exclusive and complete control over US [[nuclear weapon]]s. Among other components, it included [[Strategic Air Command]] assets such as the [[Operation Looking Glass|Looking Glass]] aircraft and mission, and various hardened [[command and control]] facilities.<ref name=PACCShistory>{{cite web |url=http://www.sac-acca.org/paccs.htm |last1=Ogletree|first1=Greg|title=A History of the Post Attack Command and Control System (PACCS)|date=n.d.|publisher= |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120910090836/http://www.sac-acca.org/paccs.htm |archivedate=September 10, 2012 |accessdate=May 14, 2014}}</ref>

The belief by the [[Soviet Union]] in the reliability of PACCS was a crucial component of the US [[mutually-mutual assured destruction]] doctrine, (ensuring a long -term [[stalemate]]; see also, [[game theory]]).

The '''Post-Attack Command and Control System''', or '''PACCS''', was a set of United States military systems designed to ensure that [[National Command Authority]] would retain sole, exclusive, and complete control over US nuclear weapons. Among other components, it included [[Strategic Air Command]] assets such as the [[Looking_Glass#Looking_Glass|LOOKING GLASS]] aircraft and mission, and various hardened [[command and control]] facilities such as [[The Notch]].

==History==

The belief by the [[Soviet Union]] in the reliability of PACCS was a crucial component of the US [[mutually-assured destruction]] doctrine (ensuring a long term [[stalemate]]; see also, [[game theory]]).

The [[Strategic Air Command]] headquarters staff, under the direction of General [[Thomas S. Power]] 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 [[Strategic Air Command|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.

==Links==

[http://members.aol.com/sacacca/paccspatches.html WWABNCP/PACCS patches]

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]]s and a back-up [[Launch control center (ICBM)|launch control center]], forcing the [[Soviet Union]] to target each missile silo, rather than just the [[Missile launch control center|launch control centers]], to incapacitate the [[LGM-30 Minuteman|Minuteman]] force.<ref>Strategic Air Command: "Weapon Systems Acquisition 1964-1979", 28 Apr 1980</ref>

[[category:military]]

==Components==

===Airborne===

*[[E-4B]] National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP)

**[[1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron]] - [[Offutt Air Force Base]], Nebraska

*[[Boeing EC-135|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]], South Dakota

**[[22d Air Refueling Squadron]] - [[March Air Force Base]], California; West Auxiliary Command Post (West AUXCP) <ref>[http://2accs.com/history.html 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron history]</ref>

***Ground Entry Point - Lamar, Colorado<ref name="paccs">[https://www.scribd.com/doc/115566349/Post-Attack-Command-and-Control-System-overview IRIS #010808041 - Post Attack Command and Control System overview]</ref>

**[[99th Air Refueling Squadron]] - [[Westover Air Force Base]], Massachusetts; East Auxiliary Command Post (East AUXCP) <ref>Strategic Air Command Regulation 100-24 Vol III: SAC Communications System Operations/EWO Support Requirements, 6 Jul 1979</ref>

***Ground Entry Point - Plano, Illinois<ref name="paccs" />

**[[913th Air Refueling Squadron]] - [[Barksdale Air Force Base]], Louisiana; Central Auxiliary Command Post (Central AUX)

***Ground Entry Point - Lyons, Nebraska<ref name="paccs" />

*[[B-47 Stratojet#B-47|EB-47L]]

**[[4362d Post Attack Command and Control Squadron]] - [[Lincoln Air Force Base]], Nebraska<ref name="Lloyd">{{cite book |last1=Lloyd |first1=Alwyn T. |title=A Cold War Legacy: A Tribute to Strategic Air Command 1946-1992|date=January 15, 2000 |publisher=Pictorial Histories Publishing |___location=[[Missoula, Montana]] |isbn=1-57510-052-5 |oclc=44672618}}</ref>

**[[4363d Post Attack Command and Control Squadron]] - [[Lockbourne Air Force Base]], Ohio<ref name="Lloyd" />

**[[4364th Post Attack Command and Control Squadron]] - [[Mountain Home Air Force Base]], Idaho<ref name="Lloyd" />

**[[4365th Post Attack Command and Control Squadron]] - [[Plattsburgh Air Force Base]], New York<ref name="Lloyd" />

===Ground===

* Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana ([[Second Air Force]] (later Eighth Air Force) Command Post)

* Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts ([[Eighth Air Force]] Combat Operations Center, aka [[Post Attack Command and Control System Facility, Hadley|"The Notch"]])<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westoveryesterday.com/TheNotch.html |title=Westover Yesterday: "The Notch and Grayson: Eighth Air Force's alternative command posts", no date |access-date=2010-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115201511/http://www.westoveryesterday.com/TheNotch.html |archive-date=2017-11-15 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

* March Air Force Base, California ([[Fifteenth Air Force]] Command Post)

*[[Grissom Air Force Base]], Indiana

* Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska ([[Strategic Air Command]] Headquarters)

**[[Headquarters Emergency Relocation Team]] (HERT) - [[Cornhusker Army Ammunition Plant]], [[Grand Island, Nebraska]]<ref>[https://archive.today/20130211082114/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coldwarcomms/message/17285?source=1&var=1 Yahoo! Groups: Cold War Comms Msg 17285, dated Jun 24, 2010]</ref>

===Communications===

*[[Survivable Low Frequency Communications System]] - VLF/LF

*Alpha and Bravo Nets - High Frequency<ref name="paccs" />

*[[Green Pine (communications)|Green Pine]]<ref name="paccs" />

*[[Emergency Rocket Communications System]]<ref name="paccs" />

==Gallery==

<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

</GALLERY>

==See also==

*[[Airborne Launch Control Center]]

*[[Survivable Low Frequency Communications System]] (SLFCS)

*[[AN/URC-117 Ground Wave Emergency Network]] (GWEN)

*[[Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network]] (MEECN)

*[[AN/DRC-8 Emergency Rocket Communications System]] (ERCS)

*[[Alternate Reconstitution Base]] (ARB)

*[[Cold War]]

*[[Game theory]]

*[[Continuity of government]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==

*[https://www.forecastinternational.com/archive/disp_old_pdf.cfm?ARC_ID=286 WWABNCP/PACCS patches]

{{USAF system codes}}

[[Category:Telecommunications equipment of the Cold War]]

[[Category:United States nuclear command and control]]

[[Category:Continuity of government in the United States]]

[[Category:Equipment of the United States Air Force]]