Emergency War Order

Emergency War Orders (EWO) are a shift in the standard operating procedure of the United States Armed Forces from a peacetime to wartime contingency. Emergency War Orders are activated after a devastating or sneak attack against U.S. forces, requiring swift action for remaining military units to avoid further destruction. Emergency War Orders are normally transmitted in Emergency Action Messages.
Provisions
Some provisions often included in Emergency War Orders are:
* Within the United States Navy, the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of a war vessel adjust their schedules to avoid (whenever practical) being in the same part of the ship at the same time (mainly this involves the eating of meals). This order is to avoid "simultaneous loss", in which the commanding officer and the executive officer both are killed.
* The United States Air Force and the Navy maintain set EWO procedures for nuclear-bomber, ICBM, and SSBN forces, mainly regarding the release of nuclear weapons onto enemy targets in accordance with OPLAN 8010, formerly the SIOP.
Implementation
The concept of Emergency War Orders came about in the 1950s, during the Cold War, as part of the Emergency War Plans which the United States armed forces developed to combat a sneak attack by a foreign power, mainly the Soviet Union. Although highly classified, emergency war orders which launch nuclear missiles are speculated to contain a war plan name, time to launch, authentication codes and codes needed to unlock the missiles before firing them. The emergency war order is encoded and encrypted before transmission to operating units.
The "Emergency War Order Officer" is the primary aide to the President of the United States, who is the authority for the activation of the emergency war plans and the issuance of emergency war orders to subordinate commands. Nuclear launch war orders are contained within the Nuclear football briefcase which is with the President, via his aide, at all times.
For peace-keeping operations and non-wartime campaigns (such as Operation Enduring Freedom), EWO does not technically apply, although similar General Orders exist to deal with both routine operations and combat conditions under fire, such as an EXORD or Execution Order.

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