Pentagon Planners Mull Y2K Sneak Attack 2.57 p.m. ET (1903 GMT) September 21, 1999

WASHINGTON  The Year 2000 computer glitch could open the door to a sneak attack on the United States, especially if many automated systems crash, the Defense Department said in a contingency-planning memo obtained Tuesday.

To deal with such a threat, the Pentagon is working out worldwide staffing and emergency procedures to cope with vulnerabilities that could be caused by computer mix-ups, according to the memo from the Joint Chiefs of Staff dated Sept. 10.

The document, sent to U.S. commanders worldwide, spelled out five alert levels to streamline the Defense Department's response.

The highest, "Y2K Posture Level One,'' would reply to ''widespread'' systems failures sparked by the century date change. It assumes that civilian authorities would seek military help to cope with disruptions.

In such a case, "deliberate information operations attacks and opportunistic engagements by hostile forces are possible,'' it said.

"Information operations attacks'' refers to computer-based efforts to knock out critical electronic infrastructure such as financial networks or military data banks.

"Opportunistic engagements'' means surprise attacks timed to cash in on any Y2K-related confusion in the United States, the world's most technologically dependent nation.

Under such a Y2K-alert level, "strict'' caps on communications throughout the Defense Department might be imposed, presumably for fear of playing into the hands of a foe seeking to take advantage of Y2K-related disruptions, the document said.

The memo from the Joint Chiefs assigned the five unified regional war-fighting commands and military services the task of preparing troops, equipment and technical support personnel for five graduated Y2K-related potential threat levels.

The military would adjust its year-end and early January operations on the basis of those Y2K "vulnerability'' assessments, the document said. It said the alert level would be declared, as normal, by Defense Secretary William Cohen.

If a threshold of perceived vulnerability is crossed because of systems failures, Cohen "will declare a Y2K posture level and the department will respond by adjusting readiness postures accordingly.''

"Recognizing the uniqueness of each Department of Defense organization, you should develop, promulgate and implement the corresponding Y2K readiness postures that best prepare your organization to cope with most probable Y2K consequences,'' the memo told commanders, service chiefs and Pentagon agency heads.

Such preparations were a normal part of military contingency planning not unlike the five levels of readiness for a hurricane, said a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jim Brooks.

"Preparing for Y2K is much like we would do for any potential threat out there,'' he said.

Many military units have been conducting "tabletop'' exercises to get ready for the Y2K glitch, which may scramble systems that have not been reprogrammed to recognize the century date change in 101 days.

Such drills, partly to determine where to base equipment such as electric generators and emergency medical supplies, ''have already taken place and they are taking place,'' Brooks said.

John Hamre, the deputy defense secretary in charge of Y2K at the Pentagon, is "particularly interested in your assessment of the need to preposition'' personnel and equipment to cope with any Y2K problems, the memo said.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), September 21, 1999

Answers

There will be no y2k problems, all problems that HAPPEN to fall in January will be the work of terrorist's. LOL.

-- CygnusXI (noburnt@toast.net), September 21, 1999.

Well... the Navy (the rest of the Dod, and the Marine's and their Warfighting Lab group, et. al.), will no doubt be ready for those "sneak attacks..." uh, landings.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1999 . . . 14:42 EDT

Navy Seventh Fleet undertakes Y2K landing exercise

BY BOB BREWIN (antenna@fcw.com)

http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/0920/web-y2klanding-09-20- 99.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

The Navy's Seventh Fleet has kicked off an operational Year 2000 exercise on and around Okinawa with eleven ships and thousands of Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which will conduct an amphibious landing with their clocks rolled forward to the new year.

The amphibious landing, which will involve Marines from the 31st MEU conducting a practice assault with air-cushion landing craft, AV-8 Harrier "jump jets," helicopters and tracked amphibious assault vehicles, will begin Sept. 22 when all participants in the exercise roll their system clocks forward to Dec. 31, 1999.

"Y2K is a top priority of the U.S. Seventh Fleet and is an important readiness issue," a Seventh Fleet spokesman said. "This validation exercise will help the Navy and Marine Corps ensure an uneventful transition to the Year 2000."

Ships participating in the exercise include the Seventh Fleet command ship; the USS Vincennes, a cruiser; and the USS Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship, which serves as the floating barracks for the 31st MEU and features a flight deck for aircraft and a well-deck in the stern for landing craft and assault vehicles.

The Belleau Wood, homeported in Sasebo, Japan, features a state-of- the-art Navy Information Technology for the 21st Century fiber-optic communications backbone operating at 155 megabits/sec that hosts ten separate classified networks and eight unclassified networks.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 21, 1999.

Let me get this straight.

There aren't going to be any Y2K problems.

But terrorists are going to exploit us when we are vulnerable because of the non-existant Y2K problems and attack us, trying to make it look like Y2K problems?

Does anyone else have a problem with this?

Keep your...

-- eyes_open (best@wishes.net), September 21, 1999.

BTW... worth a re-read...

OT?: William S. Cohen, Secretary of Defense: Preparing For A Grave New World (USIA)

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id= 0018ov

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 21, 1999.

Why does the thought of having MY OWN Y2K BUNKER sound reasonable all of a sudden ?

This stuff is getting pretty hairy.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), September 21, 1999.

Hoff says there will be no Y2k problems. The Pentagon is obviously full of stupid doomers.

-- Sarcasm (GI @ or.perish), September 21, 1999.

Hamster:

We HAVE our own Y2K bunker! (Left over from WW II). The more I hear and read, the more happy I am with my preparations...and the more I want to do additional...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), September 21, 1999.

Roland, could you provide a link or address? Thanks!

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 21, 1999.

Diane, Cohen must be counting on 1) few Americans "GI"ing in time to do much of anything consequential preps-wise, and 2) that even those who do, will generally not read Sorokin, and thus will not understand the magnitude of the threat to their family's safety from the various governmental units here in the U.S. Put me down for a "sigh", too.

my site: www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), September 21, 1999.

Gayla-

It was on the Fox Newswire yesterday at 2:57. You can get to it via Drudge at www.drudgereport.com. I'll try to find it in a bit...got to get to work!

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), September 22, 1999.

Yahoo news picked it up...

asia.yahoo.com/headlines/220999/world/937957980-90921235334.newsworld.html

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), September 22, 1999.

Link to yahoo news:

Digital Pearl Harbor

-- BB (peace2u@bellatlantic.net), September 22, 1999.