employed, but recent Threat Studies indicate that nuclear weapons, if
employed, will become their primary means of destroying US Forces. The
wide range of nuclear delivery systems available to Threat Forces will
extend the battlefield to the rearmost boundaries of the theater. These
systems include short and medium range ballistic missiles, rockets,
aircraft and field artillery and can deliver warheads with yields ranging
from subkiloton to multimegaton. The first priority for Threat nuclear
strikes will be US units with nuclear delivery capabilities.
Other
targets high on the priority list will be command posts, communications
centers, and nuclear munitions storage areas.
The United States policy on the use of nuclear weapons states:
United States use of these weapons will be considered only
after all conventional means of warfare have been severely
tested and found inadequate, or in response to the Threat's
first-use.
The approval for our initial use of nuclear weapons must come from the
President of the United States. This is accomplished through a complex
message system requiring a specific action at each level of command.
With this Threat Forces doctrine and capability in mind, it is easy to
visualize the importance which will be placed on the initial report which
will convert a conventional battlefield into a nuclear battlefield.
This "first use" report which will probably be initiated at small unit
level, must be communicated without delay, through the chain of command
to the Theater Commander who will then communicate with the Army Chief of
Staff. The Army Chief of Staff will then communicate through channels
until eventually the President is notified. If a decision to retaliate
is made, the authority must return through basically the same channels;
therefore, time will be extremely critical. A FLASH precedence will be
used by all levels of command in forwarding the first use report. It
cannot be emphasized enough that at no level will this report be delayed.
Immediately upon receipt it should be retransmitted to the next higher
headquarters.
After the "first-use" report has been retransmitted, it is then treated
as any other initial NBC 1 (Nuclear) Report. The first report received
on each nuclear attack is considered an initial NBC 1 (Nuclear) Report.
Usually, you can expect to receive initial NBC 1 (Nuclear) Reports from
several sources. These reports are submitted to the NBC Element (NBCE)
at division, with a FLASH precedence. The first NBC 1 (Nuclear) Report
received by the NBCE on each attack is retransmitted to the NBCE at
Corps,
CM2307
3-2
Previous Page
