Influential conservative radio host Steve Deace recently warned that conservatives are prepared to go 'DEFCON' 6 if the Supreme Court strikes down Prop 8 (i.e. California's voter-approved ban on gay marriage).
"This idea that some people have that the court is going to settle the issue in the Republican Party — it's going to do the exact opposite," Deace said. "It's going to raise the issue to Orange Threat Level, it'll be DEFCON 6…It will become the defining litmus test."
There's just one problem: there's no such thing as DEFCON 6.
DEFCONs, or "Defense readiness conditions," are a signal used by U.S. Armed Forces to measure between peace and global military apocalypse.
Deace may have intended to over shoot here to illustrate a point, except the scale only goes up to 1. The threat ascends as numbers descend.
On the other hand, Deace's mention of "Orange Threat Level" is an accurate reference to the Department of Homeland Security Threat Level, and would mean that the country is elevated to "high risk" (of terrorist attack).
The DEFCON mix-up is fairly common.
DEFCON 5
Department of Defense (DoD) exercise term: FADE OUT
Description: Normal peacetime readiness
DEFCON 4
DoD exercise term: DOUBLE DOWN
Description: Normal, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures
DEFCON 3
DoD exercise term: ROUND HOUSE
Description: Increase in force readiness above normal readiness (Air Force ready to mobilize in 15 minutes)
In October 1973 U.S. forces went on DEFCON 3 after Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a surprise attack on Israel and possible intervention by the Soviet Union was feared.
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