Article – The American Government’s Secret Plan for Surviving the End of the World

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This led to a key recommendation: five 50-person “interagency cadres” that would be pre-positioned or pre-deployed during emergencies to support would-be presidential successors. These “presidential successor support teams,” codenamed TREETOP cadres by the Pentagon, would deploy randomly to any one of “several hundred sites, perhaps 2-3 thousand, that would be pre-selected,” allowing for a relocation of institutional knowledge that was “highly flexible and adaptive.”

A fascinating little piece about a government-continuity program that came out from, of all things, the Carter administration. Presidential successor support teams? Secret hideouts spread across the land? Agencies tasked with teams to transport and protect possible Presidential successors? For those of you who remember your apocalypse fiction, this seems mildly reminiscent to the old ‘Guardians’ pulp novels from back in the day.

Make no mistake, there’s probably some sort of “Crystal Peak”-type facility out there that we don’t know about (as opposed to the ones we do know about, like the Greenbrier.) Are there special ‘cadres’ of .gov out there whose sole purpose is to navigate political VIPs through the imagined chaos to concrete-reinforced safety? Maybe. It’s certainly an interesting thing to think about. I want to say I recall reading somewhere that there were elite military units that were trained and tasked with just that sort of duty but I can’t recall where.

A quick search on Google for “Treetop” and “Continuity of government” turned up a few more results, but this one was interesting.: It mentions “… supplemented by more than 100 other bunkers, sprinkled around the country, as well as numerous mobile units, that have included two ships”

Interestingly, there was a recent article I read about how during World War Two the Brits had a special plan, team, and real estate specifically for hauling the monarchy to safety in the event of German invasion. And, buildingo n that, a Cold War evacuation plan as well.

Interesting article, though, and it raises interesting questions. To me, that  made it worth the short read and inclusion here. Who knows what sort of poured concrete palaces hide ‘neath the deserts and prairies?

 

 

15 thoughts on “Article – The American Government’s Secret Plan for Surviving the End of the World”

  1. Old news, Commander.
    See Amazon books for “Raven Rock: the plan for the US Govt to save itself- while the rest of us die.”

    • Actually, if you read the very bottom of the linked articles, I believe it says that was where the info was from.

  2. Every federal employee and contractor has to take annual training in their agency COOP – Continuity of Operations Plan (the current favored acronym).
    These plans cover threats and disaster from the office level up to the national level and employee actions from continuing work to sheltering in place to evacuation.

    Of course, there are classified plans and facilities as well; some of the facilities are known, some are suspected, and I’m sure that some have not even been suspected yet…

    If you search, you can find stories of former federal employees discussing the special credentials they had for use in nuclear war and other major disasters.

    There are quite a few plans to reuse existing known infrastructure – for example, the maintenance facility/ office at the middle of the Eisehower tunnel on I-70 in Colorado is known to be a designated alternate command option for nuclear war.

    I was going to mention another public facility that I know is on the list of alternate locations, but I decided it was better not to…

    • “I was going to mention another public facility that I know is on the list of alternate locations, but I decided it was better not to…”

      Keep that one for yourself! 🙂

  4. Bear well in mind this was a Carter-era plan, so it’s better than 50-50 odds the recommendation was never adopted or implemented.

    But someone generated a memo, and thus validated their bureaucratic existence for another year.

    Besides the Greenbrier, we already know about Mt. Weather, Area 51, the ginormous NSA info vacuum in Utah, and plenty of other sites. I’ve been in the subsurface tunnels under the (essentially shuttered) downtown VA building in Los Angeles, which run 3-5 storied underground, and extend to God alone knows where and what.

    But at a guess, the first thing most survivors will do after any sort of nuclear exchange is terminate federal bureaucrats on sight, on general principles, with a logic against which it would be hard to argue.

  6. Thousands of people drive by these dispersed emergency sites every day without an inkling that they are there….hiding in plain sight Also, not many of them are kept at a high state of readiness, and going to one may involve pretty austere living…not like the movies. Another thing to think about is the fuel supply to run the generators…unless resupplied, it is a finite quantity.

  7. “….a government-continuity program that came out from, of all things, the Carter administration.”

    Leftist douchebags have always planned rigorously for failure. And saving their own asses.

  8. question: If they just bomb DC and use a N-Bomb only getting the Polits and not ruining the pretty buildings; should it be considered” an act of war?” Or just helping urban renewal?

  10. Some of my buddies serviced Raven Rock. They were not impressed. Maybe it’s different now, but it was just a big, old, damp, rusty, neglected 1950s-era mess when they worked there. The phones and computers were ancient, infrastructure was in poor condition, and when 9/11 happened, nobody evacuated as the plan instructed. They were sent up there to prep the site for leadership to arrive. Nobody came-they all stayed in DC to make speeches. They stayed up there alone.

    From my buddies who have been to NORAD, it’s about the same. Constant corrosion from trickling water and constant HVAC failures.

    They do have a lot of interesting sites located here and there, but I don’t think they’re going to offer much protection in the long run. If leadership were to flee, who would be waiting and eager to follow when they resurface? Anyone figuring out where a survival bunker is are likely to map it, figure out the air intakes, and put them under siege.

    Also, how legit is a govt that makes no provision to protect their citizens, but digs nice, deep bunkers for themselves? I like the Russian model-bunkers for everyone, even if it’s only the Moscow Metro. The Soviets made it policy to build public bunkers for everyone, which is funny, since they were not a govt deriving support from the governed. Our govt, which does rely on approval of the governed obviously doesn’t give a shit about us. What point is an intact govt if the public it governs doesn’t exist?

    In the event of a war or widespread chaos, like EMP attack, those people hiding underground better not try to come out, because the survivors up above are not going to be happy to see them. Think the Fallout 2 opening when the vault opens they’re waiting outside to gun down the vault dwellers.

    • Our ruler-elites keep erring about their own value. The Russians, at least, seem to recognize it is better to be leaders of a viable population and economy after a disaster, than a leader without anyone to lead.

      Ours seem to think that there will still be some kind of economy and society for them to order about, even after everyone has died or gone feral.

  11. The USS Triton (our biggest sub at the time she was built, with TWO nuclear reactors) was the Sec of the Navy’s escape plan. Even had an office and cabin for him. I’ve heard of several others, in my time, all unobtrusive, and hiding in the open – or not so open. A lot of private corporations (especially public utilities) have similar plans and bunkers. The old gas company building in the nearby city had not only a bomb shelter, but the windows had blast shields that could cover them. Last time I was there before the place was demolished, I checked the hinges of the blast shields- rusted in place.

  12. Holy Jesus. Can you just imagine the prospects of bring locked in an underground mega bunker with the likes of Nasty Pelosi and Democrat Funeral director Chuck U Schumer.
    Nasty would appoint herself Queen Bitch of the Universe and primary hall monitor.
    Then they would have to put Fat Back Jerry Nadler in a cell or chain him to the wall to make the food supply last beyond three days.
    Then there is the genius squad with the combined IQ of minus 200,000. These idiots would drive everybody up the wall. Finally somebody would wig out and attack them. But at least Fat Back would be fed for 4 more days.
    Then the whiney Beta boys. Effeminate breta males who cry often and bitch constantly. Adam Schiff for brains and anti everything Erika Swawell renowned anti gunner with nuclear aspirations. Of course these losers are hoping to be joined by equally annoying Jon Ossoff of Georgia just in case he doesn’t implode again. They think he is really cool cause he eats ear wax. Not his own. Other people’s
    Thinking about having to try and survive with the biggest batch of totally worthless human type beings is just not my preferred thing to do.
    Pretty sure they would be reduced to their true primate state in a matter of days and begin to do what lower animals do.
    No. I think I would be better off to go it alone rather than have to deal with the biggest bunch egomaniacal mental defectives in the galaxy.
    Just think about your least favorite relative times 535.
    I’d rather eat Spam and crackers every day then deal with those assholes.

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