History Main / DefconFive

* ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' parodied the color-coded alert by having a paranoid [[Creator/StephenColbert Phil Ken Sebben]] raise the office threat level to "BLACKWATCH PLAID!" (which the episode takes it's name from). Later, he decides to raise the level to "the cover of Music/{{Rush}}'s seminal album ''Moving Pictures''", which he reminds us of in a [[RevealingCoverUp clumsy attempt to prevent the viewers from finding out he has a monitoring station in Iowa]].

* ''WebVideo/{{Unskippable}}'' highlights the way that getting it wrong is bad for dramatic tension with more informed players when looking at ''Creator/TomClancy's VideoGame/GhostRecon Advanced Warfighter 2''.

* Creator/TerryPratchett, surprisingly given his background, seems to get this wrong in ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', writing "Asking someone to repeat a phrase you'd not only heard very clearly but were also exceedingly angry about was around Defcon II in the lexicon of squabble", with the intent clearly being that this means they're ''nearly'' at the point where it erupts into an all-out row.

* A conservative radio show host threatened to go to DEFCON 6 if California's ban on same-sex marriage was overturned, which [[CriticalResearchFailure if taken at face value]] meant he intended to just give up.

* The horrible 1980's cold war film ''Film/{{Defcon 4}}'' incorrectly gave Defcon 4 as the highest state of alert. The fact that they couldn't even be wrong in the usual manner was not the worst thing about this movie.

* During ABC's pre-debate coverage of the third Democratic presidential primary debate in 2015, one of the people on TV mentioned Hillary Clinton's campaign going to [[UpToEleven DEFCON 7]] over the data breach from the Bernie Sanders campaign.
* A conservative radio show host threatened to go to [[UpToEleven DEFCON 6]] if California's ban on same-sex marriage was overturned, which [[CriticalResearchFailure if taken at face value]] meant he intended to just give up.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan keeps a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terror_Alert_Level colour coordinated terror alert system]] on his fridge, which he'll adjust according to his paranoid delusions.

* ''VideoGame/WarGamesDefcon1'', true to its namesake, uses the DEFCON phases in the correct order (descending from 5 to 1), though whether it uses them correctly is debatable - even at DEFCON 5 it appears things are far from peaceful.

It should be pointed out that alert levels mean different things to different forces. An armoured division in the US is going to take several weeks at best to move and engage an enemy (unless the Russians are hitting Long Island right now), even at DEFCON 1. On the other hand, Nuclear Missile forces; designed to launch at a moment's notice are essentially at DEFCON 1 at all times; even if the current status is DEFCON 5.

* ''VideoGame/DEFCON'', as one would hope given the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin name,]] plays it correctly, starting the game at 5 and inevitably decaying to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt 1,]] with progressive changes in gameplay as it ticks down.

* In ''Film/ByDawnsEarlyLight'', not only does USAF General Redding use the "this is a drill" practice names for Defense Conditions COCKED PISTOL (DEFCON 1) and ROUND HOUSE (DEFCON 3); by going from COCKED PISTOL to ROUND HOUSE on his authority, Redding just ordered the reduction of defense readiness when there are Soviet nuclear missiles actively flying towards the United States at that moment!

* Radio/TheYoungTurks have a running gag of mocking people who invoke this trope with the SarcasmMode declaration, "Defcon 28 is imminent!"

* ''Series/StargateSG1'': In the season 3 episode "Nemesis", the US goes to DEFCON 3 and then raises to DEFCON 2 due to an imminent attack by alien forces. Given the show's strong backing by the Air Force, it's not a surprise that they'd use the DEFCON ratings correctly.

-->-- '''[[InsufferableGenius Sheldon]]''', ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''

* Generally averted in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. The Colonial Fleet uses Condition One as the highest level of alert readiness. However, in the episode "Pegasus", Adama commits this error after the eponymous battlestar is identified. He orders the fleet to step down to Condition One, when he should have ordered them to step down to Condition Three.

* ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge]]'' starts with Lt. Eva announcing that they have entered DEFCON 2. This actually makes sense on another level as well, the U.S. can't technically enter DEFCON 1 because their nuclear arsenal was sabotaged at the beginning of the base game.

* DEFCON 2: Conventional warfare is imminent. Armed Forces ready to deploy and engage in less than 6 hours — this is the highest level ever reached in history[[note]]This would have been during the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 22, 1962. Only the Strategic Air Command (the nuclear bombers) were at DEFCON 2, the rest of the military was maintained at DEFCON 3 throughout the crisis[[/note]]. Code Name: FAST PACE

This is incorrect, and this trope is about the misuse of these terms. DEFCON 5 (codename "FADE OUT"[[note]]These codenames are used during exercises to avoid confusion with the real deal[[/note]]) is the ''lowest'' state of alert, aka completely tranquil peace time. DEFCON 1 (codename "[[DramaticGunCock COC]][[ClickHello KED]] [[MeaningfulName PISTOL]]") is the highest, referring to a confirmed state of nuclear war. The use of nuclear weapons is authorized here, but they will still require unlock codes from high authority. The highest state reached for the Strategic Air Command in US history was DEFCON 2 (codename "FAST PACE", during the Cuban Missile Crisis), the Gulf War also led to forces in the Middle East reaching DEFCON 2, for obvious reasons — i.e., actually being at war. The Yom Kippur War of 1973 saw a brief period at DEFCON 3 (codename "ROUND HOUSE", with some forces in the Middle East being at 2), as did 9/11. It's important to note that DEFCON levels can be limited to geographical regions, DEFCON 2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Gulf War were limited to the affected regions. The highest that the worldwide DEFCON level has ever risen to is 3.