Emergency War Order

Emergency War Orders (EWO) are a shift in the standard operating procedure of the United States Armed Forces from a peacetime to wartime contingency. Emergency War Orders are activated after a devastating or sneak attack against U.S. forces, requiring swift action for remaining military units to avoid further destruction. Emergency War Orders are normally transmitted in Emergency Action Messages.

Some provisions often included in Emergency War Orders are:
 * Within the United States Navy, the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of a war vessel adjust their schedules to avoid (whenever practical) being in the same part of the ship at the same time (mainly this involves the eating of meals). This order is to avoid "simultaneous loss", in which the commanding officer and the executive officer both are killed.
 * The United States Air Force and the Navy maintain set EWO procedures for nuclear-bomber, ICBM, and SSBN forces, mainly regarding the release of nuclear weapons onto enemy targets.
 * Under EWO, all branches of the U.S. military grant extreme disciplinary authority to local commanders, mainly to the effect that direct disobedience to orders in the face of the enemy may be dealt with by summary execution for refusal to follow orders. The exact legal ramifications of this stipulation have rarely been tested.

Because Emergency War Orders are designed for activation only during a declared war, the last time such measures were in effect was during World War II. During the Cold War, EWO procedures existed in case of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union.

For peace-keeping operations and non-wartime campaigns (such as Operation Enduring Freedom), EWO does not technically apply, although similar General Orders exist to deal with combat conditions and execution of military operations under fire.