Post-Attack Command and Control System

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. PACCS was 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 aircraft and mission, and various hardened command and control facilities.^[1]

The belief by the Soviet Union in the reliability of PACCS was a crucial component of the US mutual assured destruction doctrine, ensuring a long term stalemate.

Components

Airborne

• E-4B National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP)
  • 1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron - Offutt AFB, Nebraska
• EC-135 Airborne Command Post (ABNCP) "Looking Glass"
  • 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron - Offutt AFB, Nebraska
  • 4th Airborne Command and Control Squadron - Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
  • 22d Air Refueling Squadron - March AFB, CaliforniaWest Auxiliary Command Post (West AUXCP) ^[2]
  • 99th Air Refueling Squadron - Westover AFB, Massachusetts; East Auxiliary Command Post (East AUXCP) ^[3]
  • 913th Air Refueling Squadron - Barksdale AFB, Louisiana; Central Auxiliary Command Post (Central AUX)
• EB-47L
  • 4362d Post Attack Command and Control Squadron - Lincoln AFB, Nebraska^[4]
  • 4363d Post Attack Command and Control Squadron - Lockborne AFB, Ohio^[5]
  • 4364th Post Attack Command and Control Squadron - Mountain Home AFB, Idaho^[6]
  • 4365th Post Attack Command and Control Squadron - Plattsburgh AFB, New York^[7]

Ground

• Barksdale AFB, Louisiana (8th Air Force Command Post)
• Westover AFB, Massachusetts (Command Post)
• March AFB, California (15th Air Force Command Post)
• Grissom AFB, Indiana
• Offutt AFB, Nebraska (SAC Command Post)

See also

• Survivable Low Frequency Communications System (SLFCS)
• Ground Wave Emergency Network (GWEN)
• Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network (MEECN)
• Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS)
• The Cold War
• Game theory
• Continuity of government

External links

• WWABNCP/PACCS patches

References

1. Ogletree, Greg. "A History of the Post Attack Command and Control System"
2. 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron history
3. Strategic Air Command Regulation 100-24 Vol III: SAC Communications System Operations/EWO Support Requirements, 6 Jul 1979
4. Lloyd, Alwyn. A Cold War Legacy: A Tribute to Strategic Air Command 1946-1992. ISBN 1-57510-052-5
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Ibid