Gold Codes

The Gold Codes are the nuclear launch codes that are purportedly provided to the President of the United States of America in his role as Commander-in-Chief. Prepared by the National Security Agency, the code sequence is printed on a plastic card, nicknamed "the biscuit", which is similar to a credit card, that the President carries on his person. The concept behind the codes is that they permit the President to positively identify himself as the commander-in-chief and thereby authenticate a launch order to the National Military Command Center (NMCC). Should a launch situation arise, the codes would be transmitted to the NMCC.

The communication must occur via a special, secure channel. Even then, the two-man rule applies. The National Command Authority comprising the President and Secretary of Defense must jointly issue the order to use nuclear weapons to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The order would then be transmitted over a tan-yellow phone, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Alerting Network, otherwise known as the "Gold Phone", that directly links the NMCC with United States Strategic Command Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

In the event the President decides to order a nuclear strike, he would then have to transmit not only the codes but also the "Attack Options" which are the specific orders for attacks on specific targets. The Attack Options are contained in the Single Integrated Operation Plan and include Major Attack Options (MAOs), Selected Attack Options (SAOs), and Limited Attack Options (LAOs). Others include plans for continuity of government, and letters the president signs delegating authority to the Vice President should that need to happen. The satchel also includes a secure satellite phone and is always near the President, carried by a uniformed, armed military officer of the O-4 pay grade or above (Major in the Army, Air Force, or Marine Corps or Lieutenant Commander in the Navy or Coast Guard).

All US nuclear weapons are subject to the same stringent command and control, including land-based ICBMs, nuclear weapons carried by B-52 and B-2 aircraft, and Trident missiles carried by US Navy submarines.