Hello all!
Well, it’s been quite the month… I planned to discuss a certain subject for this newsletter but I need to turn and focus in a different direction. I was recently asked to attend this year’s EDTF (Electromagnetic Defense Task Force) at Maxwell AFB's Lemay Center - Wargaming Institute. It was a joint-forces exercise and wargaming designed to strategize and discuss the various threats to our country’s electric grid and how the military could respond in the aftermath. Other topics discussed were the upcoming 5G network, Quantum computers, and Artificial Intelligence and how each will affect America’s security in the electromagnetic spectrum. If you haven’t read last year’s EDTF Report, you should do so by clicking here.
The scenario they presented in the opening briefings was a high-altitude nuclear EMP fired from a Club-K missile launcher from the Gulf of Mexico. We were then released into smaller groups to brainstorm on how we could respond. Without getting into too many details, I wasn’t very encouraged by what I heard (although I was greatly encouraged by the leadership at the event). The electric power industry engineers in the room were mostly unaware of the EMP Commission’s testing on the effects of EMP and didn’t seem to understand the effects an EMP would have on the electric grid. They literally have zero plan to deal with the aftermath. FEMA has literally zero plan to deal with the aftermath. The Federal government has done little to no wargaming on the threat.
My previous understanding of the military’s readiness on the EMP front was actually shattered… it's even worse than I could have envisioned. If you get nothing else from this newsletter, please realize that the US military is completely unprepared for an EMP. It isn’t even a part of the scenarios they currently train for. As of right now, it sounds as if they won’t even have any communications in the direct aftermath of an EMP (they are working on this) and there would be very little coordination of our armed forces as a whole. They have no base-level plans for food, fuel or plans to resupply basically anything which is all currently delivered on base by civilian contracts and interstate trucking. I also got the impression that most military men and women (aside from those at the event) are largely unaware of the EMP threat or what the aftermath would look like.
However, while the military is currently unprepared for this, there are amazing people inside the fence that are aware of the problem and making noise inside the military industrial complex. At some point, the US military needs to realize that future wars will no longer be won by building the fastest planes, biggest aircraft carriers, and the largest tanks. The new battlefield will take place in the electromagnetic spectrum. Wars will be won or lost in cyberspace and by electronic weaponry. All of our adversaries are training and developing weapons for this new type of warfare while we are still focusing on building the biggest and best conventional weapons. We might be able to build the biggest, most technologically advanced aircraft carrier in the world, but if our enemy can zap all the electronics on the boat with a single targeted EMP pulse, it will turn that multi-billion dollar investment into a floating lifeboat of steel and concrete.
Most of the military planning and strategies I saw were primarily focused on the first week or two after the grid comes down. Most discussions of the long-term aftermath of 300+ million Americans starving to death and their response to the scenario, including any discussions on how the military would even feed their own troops, went largely ignored. It was a no fear-mongering zone. Unfortunately, I fear they are missing the forest for the trees. While I agree that most of the planning “should” be focused on the first two weeks, you can’t ignore the complete collapse of society happening around you. You can’t focus on your emergency response if you have no plan to feed or supply water to your troops or their families (not even in the short term!).
There were some discussions on the potential of building partnerships between the military bases and the neighboring cities and towns to locally harden against EMP and create micro-grids. I think the military will have a hard enough time feeding the thousands that live on the base, let alone the millions living just outside their gate. It sounds like a good idea in the short term, but as society dissolves, people starve and panic, the partnership will surely go south. Then you have to ask, "what are the rules of engagement in this situation?" What happens when ten thousand people storm the front gate demanding food? I fear that will turn very ugly when the military is unable to feed the millions of people just outside their gates and the civilian leadership of the starving masses has the ability to flip the switch on the base’s electric grid, sewer, and water supply.
Last year’s EDTF report blew my mind when it disclosed that the back-up generators (the ones that keep the spent fuel rods cool) at our nuclear facilities were still un-hardened against EMP. If that’s not the biggest oversight in history, I don’t know what else to say. In comparison to their operating and security budget, it's such a small financial investment for them to harden these genertors and they still haven't done it! I wasn’t privileged to sit in on those meetings, but I heard they were “contentious”. I hope the EDTF guys made some headway with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because if all 99 nuclear reactors in this country go Fukushima, “Houston, we have a problem!”
Okay… so I realize I’m not exactly being a ray of sunshine here… To end on a good note, please know that there are some very powerful men and women in the military, as well as a select few in the electrical industry, that are working tirelessly to raise awareness of the threat and implement some action steps. Trump has recently enacted an executive order on the EMP threat, so hopefully, we can start to make some headway and harden the US electric grid before it's too late (though I'm not holding my breath).
The Takeaway: No one in the government or military is coming to help you! They will be in the same sinking boat as you are. You need to start preparing for hard times today. At least develop a plan of action on how to flee large population centers and ask yourself what you would do and how you would feed and protect your loved ones.
As always, “Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best, and let God do the rest…”
Jonathan Hollerman
