By Steve Thompson
For those who noticed my absence, I’ve been away on annual military duty with the Army Reserves. I spent a fun two weeks at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, helping train basic recruits to the US Army. It was a good mission and these were patriotic kids making a brave sacrifice for our country. I wish I could have stayed longer, and I may write a bit more about this next week.
My journey of course included some downtime on weekends and during flights, so I purchased a new book to read to keep my mind busy. I’ve read a lot of books on duty, from Stephen King to Tom Clancy and lots in between. This time I picked up a book titled “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen, Ph.D.
It’s possibly the scariest book I’ve read in my adult life.
One Second After is a fictional scenario story about what might happen in America if we are ever hit with a massive EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) attack. Dr. Forstchen did a lot of homework on this, so fictional is a loose term. The results of his findings are not pretty.
An EMP happens with the detonation of a nuclear weapon. If this happens at ground level, those within the blast radius really won’t care much that their cell phone just died. It’s when a nuclear weapon is detonated at the atmospheric level that it becomes more dangerous. Imagine everything with electronics suddenly dying. All electricity is shut off, all vehicles newer than 1970 stop running, and all communications suddenly die. This is the effect of an electromagnetic pulse. You wouldn’t see or feel it happening, but you’d know the results.
With 2 or 3 nuclear detonations our entire country could be crippled in seconds. All airplanes in our skies would plummet to the earth, killing thousands instantly and making 9/11 tiny in comparison. Next would be those on life-support systems, as hospitals are not equipped to handle this kind of power outage. Thousands more would die within hours.
People in large cities have been known to riot and start looting within the first day of major power outages. The urban social order breaks down really fast and people start to get mean. There won’t be enough law enforcement to control it.
The situation devolves from there. Will it take days to get power back on? Or maybe weeks or months? How much food and water do you have stored in your home? Who will help you if you become sick or injured? If you have food and medical supplies, what’s to stop your desperate neighbors from taking it from you?
One Second After tells the tale of what could happen to our country should all of this happen. It’s scary and riveting. It’s also sad. The question keeps coming up: why aren’t we prepared for this? As a nation we are not.
Although a national commission was formed after 9/11 to study and predict the next possible terrorist attack, EMP has been low on the agenda. It’s viewed as a bit sci-fi perhaps, or maybe not realistic. It’s true, terrorists would have a difficult time procuring one nuclear weapon, let alone 3 that could be fired into the atmosphere. It’s more likely if they obtained one that they’d smuggle it into a large city.
However our risk assessment is not based on probability alone. The magnitude of an attack has to be considered. A nuclear blast in Los Angeles would be terrible, but America would survive and justice would be swift. An EMP over our country could bring about the death of our nation.
What can we do about this threat? Preparation never hurts. On the national level, Congress should start having a dialogue about how to prepare. Backup electronics could be stored in safe locations. Old diesel locomotive trains could be restored and kept at the ready for distribution of food from areas that have plenty to areas without. Power lines could start to be retrofitted. We already know that fiber optics have a higher likelihood of surviving an EMP surge, so some communications could be quickly restored.
On a personal level, Americans need to learn to be more self-sufficient. We’ve grown used to having everything conveniently delivered to us. So much so that hardly anyone stores food or water anymore. How many reading this have a short wave radio? Who has over a week’s worth of supplies like batteries and candles? Do you have a firearm to protect your supplies from those who didn’t plan ahead?
Readers interested in learning more about this topic can pick up a copy of One Second After in bookstores. Or, you can read this report by the Heritage Foundation. Whatever you do, don’t get caught unprepared. You don’t have to start living in a bunker, but you could at least start doing some gardening and learning how to fix things without calling a handyman. It could save your life or at the least feel better about it.
Excellent report Steve, we did a similar story about a year ago and you’re right about the mayhem and devastation it could cause. We also received a disturbing email from a person in Iran who was involved in developing an EMP. He said it was fully tested and operational. His URL came back to a city in the center of Iran where military projects are done.