Your humble blogger is working feverishly on last-minute revisions towards the elevated edition of Theories of Worldwide Politics and Zombies. Now ordinarily, at this time from the book, the alterations could be only marginal. However last month Foreign Policy‘s Gordon Lubold needed to go and uncover the Pentagon’s actual zombie apocalypse contingency plan:
Incredibly, the Defense Department includes a response if zombies attacked and also the military needed to eradicate flesh-eating walkers to be able to “preserve the sanctity of human life” of all the “non-zombie humans.”….
“This plan fulfills imaginary contingency planning guidance tasking for U.S. Proper Command [USSTRATCOM] to build up an extensive [plan] to attempt military operations to preserve ‘non-zombie’ humans in the threats resulting from a spook horde,” CONOP 8888’s plan summary reads. “Because zombies pose a menace to all non-zombie human existence, [Proper Command] will be ready to preserve the sanctity of human existence and conduct operations meant for any population — including traditional adversaries.”
CONOP 8888, also known as “Counter-Zombie Dominance” and dated April 30, 2011, isn’t any laughing matter, but obviously it’s. Since it’s authors note within the document’s “disclaimer section,” “this plan wasn’t really designed like a joke.”
You are able to download U.S. Proper Command’s plan here.
There’s much to admire within the planning scenario. Like my very own zombie research, the authors observe that, “planners will need to assume worst-situation scenarios produced from popular culture references (books, movies, comics) to adequately model zombie threats.” Furthermore, the program acknowledges the need to handle the living dead while simultaneously develop confidence-building measures with, “nuclear armed peers for example Russia and also the PRC [China.]”
Getting see clearly over a few occasions, however, Used to do identify a couple of flaws within the planning process. In no particular order:
1. The program doesn’t really assume worst-situation scenarios. U.S. Proper Command evidently presents a complete typology from the living dead, varying from Evil Magic Zombies (EMZs) to Chicken Zombies (CZs) to Symbiant-Caused Zombies (SIZs). Later on, however, the program states positively, “It is worth noting that zombies aren’t aware existence-forms.”
Now, in line with the majority of the zombie canon, the above mentioned statement holds true. But you will find certainly examples within the genre, varying in the fully aware ghouls of Return from the Living Dead towards the Oedipally problematic zombies of Dead Alive! towards the evolving stenches from Land from the Dead towards the diffident British folk of In The Flesh, where zombies do display intelligence. Furthermore, there’s zero discussion within the plan from the different tactical military problems posed by fast versus. slow zombies. This matters, because when this Essential Chart demonstrates, the worst-situation scenario is, undoubtedly, the smart fast zombies:
If there might be a whole Reddit thread dedicated to this, then surely the U.S. military can consider the worst-situation scenario a bit more.
2. Twenty-eight days later — nothing? The program almost casually mentions that “USSTRATCOM forces don’t presently hold enough contingency stores (food, water) to aid thirty days of barricaded counter-zombie operations.” Wait, not really thirty days?! So the U.S. military is telling us that, maybe 4 weeks later, USSTRATCOM has blown through its reserves? That’s unacceptable. Fighting against the undead will probably be a lengthy, hard slog. Clearly, U.S. proper planners have to recommend more reserve stores of water and food. That will easily be the CDC’s recommendation.
3.The program is trigger-happy about nuclear weapons. It’s to U.S. Proper Command’s credit it had the idea about zombie apocalypse scenarios. Regrettably, it appears as if it’s considered them mainly in an effort to make sure that USSTRATCOM has got the lead within this policy arena. Indeed, at some point the program states positively: “Although CDRUSSTRATCOM doesn’t have geographic AOR [section of responsibility] and it has no specified combat roles against zombies, he’s the only real CCDR in charge of nuclear weapons, which could be the very best weapons from the hordes from the undead (emphasis added).”
Whoa there, U.S. Proper Command!! Who stated nukes will be the best reaction to the living dead? Not me, that’s without a doubt!! Why the reliance upon them? Because that’s USSTRATCOM’s bailiwick. Clearly, other military instructions have to think seriously relating to this threat, in order to make sure that Proper Command doesn’t privilege its position an excessive amount of. I wish to visit a whole-of-government zombie counterinsurgency plan, not just one that merely rights the function of USSTRATCOM in classic bureaucratic politics fashion.
4.Failing to speak in the chain of command. Based on the plan itself and Lubold’s story, USSTRATCOM planners authored and printed this at the end of April 2011. Meaning the program have been unclassified and circulated not less than two years when, freaked out after studying World War Z, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman from the Joint Leaders of Staff, stated: “I scared the hell from myself…. I visited the Joint Leaders and that i stated, ‘Oh my God, what exactly are we likely to do when the zombies attack?‘” Meaning 2 yrs after CONOP 8888 was drafted, the very best military brass continued to be not aware relating to this contingency plan. One only hope that in a real zombie apocalypse, information will travel more freely in the command chain.
Again, this was a excellent first draft through the planners at U.S. Proper Command. However, if the last decade of military exigencies has trained us anything, it’s that we have to be seriously interested in contingency planning. So I’d want to see some follow-up drafts, please.
