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What Do We Actually Know About The US Nuclear Football?

What Do We Actually Know About The US Nuclear Football?

It contains everything a President needs to launch a nuclear missile

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Nuclear threats have been made by the US, Russia and North Korea over the past several months as the hermit kingdom attempts to flex its muscles. Most recently, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) leader Kim Jong-un launched an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), with the Pentagon later admitting the North Korea-produced device was something it had 'never seen before'.

If ever a nuclear weapon was launched, the US would obviously need to respond quickly. But how does the President do that if he's away from the White House?

There is a briefcase which has several names: the nuclear football, the atomic football, the Presidential Emergency Satchel, the button, the black box, or just the football. It's the US President's go-to whenever he or she is travelling and needs to dispatch a nuclear strike.

nuclear football
nuclear football

Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Smithsonian Institute Magazine

One of five rotating military aides will follow the President everywhere with the 20-kilogram case, which is a metal Zero Halliburton briefcase carried in a black leather 'jacket'. That person undergoes what's known as a Yankee White background check - one of the most extensive checks in America. It goes through your employment, credit, national and local agency checks, as well as your education history, and will even include interviews with neighbours for the last three years.

Former military aide Stephen Chealander carried the case during Ronald Reagan's administration between 1986 and 1988. He's told LADbible: "When I was first notified that I was being considered for the position of Military Aide to the President, I asked 'What is that?'.

"That's how little I knew at the time about the duties of the Military Aide. As the process proceeded, it became increasingly apparent that this position and the responsibility about to be assigned to me with the 'Football' was a big deal. I took it very seriously."

Stephen Chealander with the Reagans in Venice
Stephen Chealander with the Reagans in Venice

Stephen seen with the Football while travelling with Ronald and Nancy Reagan during a trip to Venice. Credit: Creative Commons/William Fitz-Patrick

He adds that to ensure the case is kept on the aide at all times, it is tethered to their wrist 'with a leather strap that had a lasso like synch that would tighten on your wrist if someone tried to pull it from you'.

That person is required to be close to the President at all times. They travel in the same elevator, stay on the same hotel floor and even have a team of Secret Service guards. But there have been several occasions when the football carrier has been separated from the president.

Bill Clinton once left a NATO summit so quickly that he left behind the military aide - who then had to walk half a mile back to the White House with the important briefcase, according to the BBC. Similarly, Ronald Reagan was separated from his launch codes following his 1981 assassination attempt - the laminated card containing the codes (nicknamed 'the Biscuit') was later found in one of his shoes, unsecured, on the emergency room floor. Jimmy Carter, however, simply left the codes in his suit when it was sent to the dry cleaners.

Nuclear football
Nuclear football

Barrack Obama's senior staff and military aides carry the football across the grounds of the White House. Credit: PA

Several movies have depicted the football, such as 2010's Salt, starring Angelina Jolie. In this film, the interior of the football is a technological set-up, including a hand print scanner, secure mobile phone, keyboard and computer screen.

The football being displayed in the movie Salt
The football being displayed in the movie Salt

Credit: Colombia Pictures/Salt

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

The football's origins lie in the John F Kennedy administration, following the Cuban Missile Crisis. The President asked his team: "What would I say to the Joint War Room to launch an immediate nuclear strike? And how would the person who received my instructions verify them?" Kennedy was so concerned about the Cold War that he believed a Soviet commander in Cuba would launch a nuke on US soil without authorisation from the Kremlin.

According to Bill Gulley, the former director of the White House Military Office, there are four things contained inside the football: a black book which has the strike options, a book listing classified site locations, another document describing the Emergency Alert System, and a card (about the same size as a credit card) with the authentication codes. Stephen Chealander adds that there is a 'link between the President and the Department of Defence which makes the President, Commander in Chief'.

If the Commander-in-Chief wanted to organise a nuclear strike, the football would be opened and the President would have to choose which strike option he or she wanted. The choices are Major Attack Options, Selected Attack Options and Limited Attack Options. The president would then need to transmit the launch codes, which are also called the Gold Code. The Vice President is also given the codes in case the leader is incapacitated.

Football back in the day
Football back in the day

Credit: Discovery Channel

Once the option is chosen, the codes have to be relayed to the National Military Command Centre through a secure line, according to Bloomberg. The US President is the only person who can authorise the use of a nuclear strike, but he or she must get the Secretary of Defence to verify the order. The Defence Secretary has no veto power and must comply with the strike.

When the codes are verified, military officers in the war room will then send out Emergency Action Messages. These are the specific orders which would go to officers at various Launch Control Centres. It will include information about where the strike is going, how many warheads and what time it will take place. These officers will have to compare the codes being sent to them with the ones that have stored in their safes. Crews attach to the ICBMs can launch a strike within 60 seconds after clearing the codes, while submarines can launch in 12 minutes.

But has the football ever been used?

Not that we know of - but there have been some close calls. A malfunctioning computer chip warned that there were 2,200 missiles heading to the US in 1980. President Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski was told that Russian submarines had launched the strikes. Apparently, engines on nuclear bombers were fired up, missile crews opened their safes and Brzezinski called the President for a decision. Suddenly, nothing was showing up on radar and the incident was called a false alarm.

Russia's version of the nuclear football
Russia's version of the nuclear football

Russia's version of the football is called the Cheget. Credit: www.kremlin.ru

Russia has a similar nuclear football, called the Cheget. In 1995, the US launched a scientific missile off the coast of Norway to study the northern lights - but the Russian military thought it was a nuclear strike. Then Russian president Boris Yeltsin opened up the Cheget and had 10 minutes to decide what to do. Luckily, two minutes before the deadline Mr Yeltsin was told the missile was not a threat.

Let's just hope that these briefcases never have to be opened and used.

Featured Image Credit: PA

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