The Gold Codes are the launch codes for nuclear weapons provided to the President of the United States in their role as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. In conjunction with the nuclear football, the Gold Codes allow the president to authorize a nuclear attack. Gold Codes, as well as a separate nuclear football, are also assigned to the vice president in case the president is incapacitated or otherwise unable to discharge the duties of office pursuant to the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Gold Codes are arranged in a column and printed on a plastic card nicknamed "the biscuit".
The card's size is similar to that of a credit card, and the president is supposed to carry it on their person. Before it can be read, an opaque plastic covering must be snapped in two and removed.
Gold Codes are generated daily and provided by the National Security Agency (NSA) to the White House, The Pentagon, United States Strategic Command and TACAMO. For an extra level of security, the list of codes on the card includes codes that have no meaning, and therefore the president must memorize where on the list the correct code is located. The concept behind the codes is that they permit the president to present positive identification of being the commander-in-chief and thereby authenticate a launch order to the National Military Command Center (NMCC).
Protocol
Should the president decide to order the launch of nuclear weapons, the president would be taken aside by the carrier of the nuclear football and the briefcase would be opened. The president would then decide which attack options (specific orders for attacks on specific targets) to use. The attack options are preset war plans developed under OPLAN 8010, and include major attack options (MAOs), selected attack options (SAOs) and limited attack options (LAOs). The chosen attack option and the Gold Codes would then be transmitted to the NMCC via a special secure channel. Before the order can be followed by the military, the president must be positively identified using a special code issued on a plastic card, nicknamed the "biscuit". The authetication is conducted between the President and the National Military Command Center Deputy Director of operations, using a two phonetic letters challenge code. The President will read from the biscuit the daily phonetic letters and the deputy director will confirm or deny if that is correct,; confirming indicating the person is the president and the attack orders can be given. As commander-in-chief, the president is the only individual with the authority to order the use of nuclear weapons. Nuclear-defense policy expert Franklin Miller states that the president has almost single authority to initiate a nuclear attack and the secretary of defense is required to verify the order, he or she cannot legally veto it.
See also
List of government and military acronyms
List of established military terms
Emergency Action Message
Multi-factor authentication
National Command Authority (United States) Nuclear weapon control in the United Kingdom Operation Looking Glass Roger Fisher (academic), who proposed putting the nuclear codes inside a person so that the president has no choice but to take a life to activate the nuclear weapons
References
Further reading
Finnis, John, Joseph Boyle, and Germain Grisez. "Nuclear Deterrence, Morality and Realism" (1988). Hansen, Chuck. "U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History" (1988). Jeutner, Valentin. "Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law: The Concept of a Legal Dilemma" (2017). Williams, Stephen P. "How to be President: What to Do and where to Go Once You're in Office" (2004).