Continuity of government
Encyclopedia
Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government
to continue its essential operations in case of nuclear war
or other catastrophic event.
COG was developed by the British government during World War II
to counter the threat of Luftwaffe
bombing during the Battle of Britain
. The need for continuity-of-government plans gained new urgency with nuclear proliferation
.
Countries during the Cold War
and afterwards developed such plans to avoid (or minimize) confusion and disorder in a power vacuum
in the aftermath of a nuclear attack
.
's government which was in power at the time.
, Val d'Oise. The alternate national command center is located at Mont Verdun near Lyon
.
The hardened headquarters of Force Océanique Stratégique (FOST), France's nuclear SSBN fleet, is at Houilles
, Yvelines
.
in Buskerud
County. The bunker is meant to accommodate the Norwegian Royal Family
and the government in case of a nuclear/military attack on the nation, and also function as a wartime headquarters.
the Klarna skyddsrum (Klarna bunker) was built underneath Stockholm
. The bunker is designed to accommodate two thirds of the government and between 8000 to 12000 civilians in the case of a military attack on Stockholm.
It is built in two stories and have multiple entrances. During peace time parts of it is used as a garage.
. An alternate national command center
was previously maintained in a quarry complex (nicknamed Hawthorn
) near Corsham, Wiltshire. The above-ground support facility is RAF Rudloe Manor
.
Service command centers are Northwood for the Royal Navy Trident SSBN force, and RAF High Wycombe
for the Royal Air Force.
UK specific:
US specific:
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
to continue its essential operations in case of nuclear war
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
or other catastrophic event.
COG was developed by the British government during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to counter the threat of Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bombing during the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
. The need for continuity-of-government plans gained new urgency with nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the...
.
Countries during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
and afterwards developed such plans to avoid (or minimize) confusion and disorder in a power vacuum
Power vacuum
A power vacuum is, in its broadest sense, an expression for a condition that exists when someone has lost control of something and no one has replaced them. It is usually used to refer to a political situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority...
in the aftermath of a nuclear attack
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
.
Canada
Canada built numerous nuclear bunkers across the country, nicknamed "Diefenbunkers" in a play on the last name of prime minister John DiefenbakerJohn Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963...
's government which was in power at the time.
France
The Centre d'Opération des Forces Aériennes Stratégiques (COFAS) is a hardened command center for French nuclear forces in TavernyTaverny
Taverny is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Inhabitants are called Tabernacians.-History:...
, Val d'Oise. The alternate national command center is located at Mont Verdun near Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
.
The hardened headquarters of Force Océanique Stratégique (FOST), France's nuclear SSBN fleet, is at Houilles
Houilles
Houilles is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:...
, Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
.
Norway
The Norwegian government operate a nuclear bunker called SentralanleggetSentralanlegget
Sentralanlegget is the war headquarter of the Norwegian government. The facility is located in Hole municipality in Buskerud County, and designed as an underground shelter in the west side of the mountain Kongens utsikt...
in Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
County. The bunker is meant to accommodate the Norwegian Royal Family
Norwegian Royal Family
The Royal Family of Norway is the family of King Harald V of Norway. In Norway there is a distinction between the Royal House and the Royal Family. The Royal House includes only the King and his spouse, the Queen, the King's eldest son with spouse, being the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and the...
and the government in case of a nuclear/military attack on the nation, and also function as a wartime headquarters.
Sweden
During the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
the Klarna skyddsrum (Klarna bunker) was built underneath Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. The bunker is designed to accommodate two thirds of the government and between 8000 to 12000 civilians in the case of a military attack on Stockholm.
It is built in two stories and have multiple entrances. During peace time parts of it is used as a garage.
United Kingdom
The primary British COG headquarters is at the Ministry of Defence in WhitehallWhitehall
Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...
. An alternate national command center
Central Government War Headquarters
The Central Government War Headquarters is a complex built underground as the United Kingdom's Emergency Government War Headquarters - the hub of the country's alternative seat of power outside London during a nuclear war or conflict with the Soviet Union...
was previously maintained in a quarry complex (nicknamed Hawthorn
Hawthorn, Wiltshire
Hawthorn is the location of a number of defence related underground facilities in the vicinity of Corsham, Wiltshire. Specifically the Hawthorn site was the location of an above-ground bunker used for the planning of satellite communications support to the United Kingdom's armed forces worldwide. ...
) near Corsham, Wiltshire. The above-ground support facility is RAF Rudloe Manor
RAF Rudloe Manor
RAF Rudloe Manor, formerly RAF Box, was a Royal Air Force station located north-east of Bath, United Kingdom between the towns of Box and Corsham, in Wiltshire...
.
Service command centers are Northwood for the Royal Navy Trident SSBN force, and RAF High Wycombe
RAF High Wycombe
RAF High Wycombe is a Royal Air Force station, situated in the village of Walters Ash, near High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. Its purpose is to serve the needs of the RAF Air Command, situated on the site. It is also the headquarters of the European Air Group...
for the Royal Air Force.
United States
- Each facility is counterpart to its peacetime equivalent.
- Raven Rock Mountain Complex → The PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
(Department of DefenseUnited States Department of DefenseThe United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
) - Mount WeatherMount WeatherThe Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a civilian command facility in Virginia, U.S. used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency...
→ Federal Emergency Management AgencyFederal Emergency Management AgencyThe Federal Emergency Management Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, initially created by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1978 and implemented by two Executive Orders...
(FEMA) (Used temporarily for Members of Congress in Sept. 2001) - Camp DavidCamp DavidCamp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 60 mi north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of...
→ Executive Office of the President - Unknown → United States CongressUnited States CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
(The GreenbrierThe GreenbrierThe Greenbrier is a Forbes four-star and AAA Five Diamond Award winning luxury resort located just outside the town of White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States....
was to be used until 1992, when it was decommissioned) - Cheyenne MountainCheyenne MountainCheyenne Mountain is a mountain located just outside the southwest side of Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S., and is home to the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station and its Cheyenne Mountain Directorate, formerly known as the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center .Throughout the Cold War and...
→ North American Aerospace Defense CommandNorth American Aerospace Defense CommandNorth American Aerospace Defense Command is a joint organization of Canada and the United States that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and defense for the two countries. Headquarters NORAD is located at Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado...
(NORAD) - United States Strategic CommandUnited States Strategic CommandUnited States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense . The Command, including components, employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors, who oversee the command's operationally...
Center (Offutt Air Force BaseOffutt Air Force BaseOffutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
) → United States Strategic CommandUnited States Strategic CommandUnited States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense . The Command, including components, employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors, who oversee the command's operationally...
(USSTRATCOMUnited States Strategic CommandUnited States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense . The Command, including components, employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors, who oversee the command's operationally...
)
- Raven Rock Mountain Complex → The Pentagon
- Former site:
- National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (Mount Pony) → Department of TreasuryUnited States Department of the TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
/Federal Reserve (sold off in 1997 to the National Audiovisual Conservation Center) - Project Greek IslandProject Greek IslandProject Greek Island was a United States Government continuity program located at The Greenbrier hotel in West Virginia. The facility was decommissioned in 1992 after the program was exposed in a U.S...
(Greenbrier Bunker - Exposed in press and removed from service)
- National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (Mount Pony) → Department of Treasury
- Also, mobile systems are used for additional command and control.
- E-4Boeing E-4The Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post, with a project name of "Nightwatch", is an aircraft operated by the United States Air Force...
, EC-135Boeing EC-135The Boeing EC-135 was a command & control version of the C-135 Stratolifter. Modified for the "Looking Glass" program, during the Cold War EC-135 were airborne 24 hours a day to serve as flying command platforms for the military in the event of nuclear war...
, and E-6 are all airborne command centers. - Air Force OneAir Force OneAir Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of any United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft whose primary mission is to transport the president; however, any U.S. Air Force aircraft...
is the term for any USAF plane the President of the United StatesPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
travels on. However, the term normally refers to a Boeing VC-25Boeing VC-25The Boeing VC-25 is the designation of a United States Air Force passenger transportation aircraft, a military version of the Boeing 747 airliner. The A-model is the only variant of the VC-25....
A the President normally uses. While the VC-25A is equipped with numerous systems to ensure its survival, in an emergency, it would be recommended that he use the National Airborne Operations Center, a Boeing E-4Boeing E-4The Boeing E-4 Advanced Airborne Command Post, with a project name of "Nightwatch", is an aircraft operated by the United States Air Force...
specially built to serve as a survivable mobile command post. The Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of DefenseThe Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
may also use it, as a member of the National Command AuthorityNational Command AuthorityNational Command Authority is a term used by the Department of Defense of the United States of America to refer to the ultimate lawful source of military orders. The NCA comprises the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense jointly, or their duly deputized successors, i.e...
. It is also possible that the President would authorize the Vice PresidentVice President of the United StatesThe Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
to use it, depending on the circumstances. - An E-6 Mercury, is USSTRATCOM's Airborne Command Post, designed to take over in case USSTRATCOM's headquarters is destroyed or incapable of communicating with strategic forces.
- NORAD owns and operates a Mobile Consolidated Command Center
- E-4
See also
- Critical Infrastructure ProtectionCritical Infrastructure ProtectionCritical infrastructure protection is a concept that relates to the preparedness and response to serious incidents that involve the critical infrastructure of a region or nation....
- Decapitation strikeDecapitation strikeIn the theory of nuclear warfare, a decapitation strike is a first strike attack that aims to remove the command and control mechanisms of the opponent, in the hope that it will severely degrade or destroy its capacity for nuclear retaliation....
- Disaster recoveryDisaster recoveryDisaster recovery is the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human-induced disaster. Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity...
- Government in exileGovernment in exileA government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
- Shadow governmentShadow governmentShadow government may refer to:*An opposition government in a parliamentary system, see Shadow Cabinet*A term for plans for an emergency government that takes over in the event of a disaster, see continuity of government...
- Temporary capitalTemporary capitalA temporary capital or a provisional capital is a city or town chosen by a government as an interim base of operations due to some difficulty in retaining or establishing control of a different metropolitan area...
UK specific:
- Central Government War HeadquartersCentral Government War HeadquartersThe Central Government War Headquarters is a complex built underground as the United Kingdom's Emergency Government War Headquarters - the hub of the country's alternative seat of power outside London during a nuclear war or conflict with the Soviet Union...
- Civil Contingencies SecretariatCivil Contingencies SecretariatThe Civil Contingencies Secretariat, created in July 2001, is the department of the British Cabinet Office responsible for emergency planning in the UK. The role of the secretariat is to ensure the United Kingdom’s resilience against disruptive challenge, and to do this by working with others to...
US specific:
- Continuity of Government CommissionContinuity of Government CommissionThe Continuity of Government Commission is a think tank set up in 2002 to recommend improvements on the constitutional and statutory provisions for the continuity of government in the United States. It was set up by the American Enterprise Institute and the Brookings Institution following the...
- Continuity of Operations PlanContinuity of Operations PlanContinuity of Operations is a United States Federal initiative, required by Presidential directive, to ensure that agencies are able to continue performance of essential functions under a broad range of circumstances....
- Designated survivorDesignated survivorA designated survivor is a member of the United States Cabinet who is appointed to be at a physically distant, secure, and undisclosed location when the president and the country's other top leaders are gathered at a single location, such as during State of the Union addresses and presidential...
- National Security and Homeland Security Presidential DirectiveNational Security and Homeland Security Presidential DirectiveThe National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive , created and signed by United States President George W...
- Wartime Information Security ProgramWartime Information Security ProgramThe Wartime Information Security Program was a Cold War-era group that would have been responsible for censorship in the aftermath of a nuclear war...