No. We are not affiliated with any government agency and DWS does not represent the alert status of any military branch. Military DEFCON levels are secret. We don’t know them and wouldn’t report them even if we did as that would compromise security.

DWS is designed to be a digest of information related to the possibility of nuclear war. While there are many sources of news and information out there, we try to be one-stop-shopping for important and relevant information. We can’t possibly report everything, but we do try to pick out the stuff that can have the greatest impact.

We also feel that nuclear war is such a terrifying subject that most people don’t want to think about it. When nuclear war comes, the government is likely not going to say anything until it is much too late if ever. Our system is designed to be a barometer which will (in theory) see nuclear war coming much earlier than the government will admit. We will then issue a warning which the public can decide for themselves what to do about.

Over the years, The DEFCON Warning System has grown to gain some contacts within government and military agencies. However, most of our information is public knowledge and can be easily searched for. We often post news article links on our message board for commentary.

Information from confidential sources is vetted and, by necessity, often redacted to protect the source as well as not compromise national security or field plans. We do not, however, hold back information necessary to the safety of the public.

No matter how hard anyone tries, unless you’re inside the enemy’s situation room, you’re going to have to make a guess. It’s an art not a science, and one that has been around since Cain first slew Abel.

The DEFCON Warning System, by nature, is designed to react to certain situations. In order to give the most warning possible, it has to make an educated guess as to whether the event will pass or the missiles will fly. This means that sometimes an alert will be raised and the situation will calm and nothing will come of it.

Generally speaking, Green and Yellow tend to be more accurate, while Blue and Orange are more vague. By the time Red comes around, the writing will be on the wall.

Historically speaking, the world has marched toward nuclear war numerous times and backed away. You’ll see the DEFCON Warning System reflect that.

Ultimately, you must decide for yourself what to do with the information presented. We’re only a barometer.

When did that become a word?

We are not survivalists. No one here is rooting for World War III. Truth be told, most of the DEFCON staff live in or near targeted locations and would not survive the first few minutes of a nuclear war. So believe it when we say no one here wants to see that happen.

As more countries develop nuclear weapons, the world becomes a more dangerous place and the potential for nuclear war increases. We do our best to only sound the warning when necessary, but when events dictate, we will issue the proper alerts. Most of the time, the situation will resolve itself and things will calm down. But that doesn’t mean that the potential for nuclear war wasn’t there. To look at it another way, if you have an open flame next to pool of gasoline, just because it didn’t explode doesn’t mean the potential wasn’t there. The same can be said of the DEFCON alerts. Just because nothing happened at the time of an alert doesn’t mean the potential for disaster wasn’t there.

It is always up to the public to decide what to do in the event of an emerging situation.