[107634] in Cypherpunks
more on y2k prep by govt
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Vladimir Z. Nuri)
Wed Jan 20 01:57:12 1999
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 99 22:43:05 -0800
From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Reply-To: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
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MONDAY
JANUARY 18
1999
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[WND Exclusive ]
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PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO
The threat to communications
National Guard, utilities make plans for
Y2K
------------------------------------------
By David M. Bresnahan
=A9 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON, DC -- The millennium computer
bug may cause loss of communications -- an
eventuality for which the National Guard
and the nation's electric companies are
making plans.
The National Guard Bureau has begun a full
investigation to determine which officers
leaked plans to stage a mock mobilization
of all 480,000 members of the guard.
WorldNetDaily received reports from
numerous officers last week within the
national headquarters of the National
Guard, along with supporting
documentation.
Plans for exercise COMEX/MOBEX involve a
recall of the entire National Guard
without the use of telephones to simulate
communications failure because of the Y2K
computer bug. The two-day test is
tentatively scheduled for May 1.
COMEX/MOBEX is a combined exercise between
the Federal Emergency Management Agency
and the National Guard. Public relations
officers for both organizations would not
confirm or deny reports of the plans, but
two White House agencies verified the
operation.
Several officers, some directly involved
in the planning of COMEX/MOBEX, contacted
WorldNetDaily after a series of reports
based on a lengthy interview with Sen. Bob
Bennett, R-UT, chairman of the Senate
Special Committee on the Year 2000
Technology Problem.
Bennett claimed that he is not aware of
any plans for martial law, or use of
troops in the U.S. as part of Y2K
planning. An officer within the National
Guard Bureau contacted WorldNetDaily with
information Bennett was not aware of.
Following publication of four articles on
COMEX/MOBEX last week, numerous National
Guard members and officers contacted
WorldNetDaily to confirm various levels of
mobilization planning at the state level.
Some also emphatically denied the
existence of COMEX/MOBEX.
The officers who leaked the plans to
WorldNetDaily explained that they did so
under the condition that their identities
be protected. They were critical of the
National Guard and of President Clinton.
Each of the sources confirmed that the
COMEX/MOBEX plans are not classified, and
that they were making the plans known
because they were opposed to government
secrecy over Y2K planning. They believe
there will be a much lower chance of
public fear and panic if sufficient
warnings are made in advance.
One of the officers contacted
WorldNetDaily over the weekend to relay a
message that a full investigation was
instituted by the National Guard Bureau
because of the leaks.
Even though FEMA and National Guard public
relations officers did not seem to know
about the COMEX/MOBEX plans, two different
White House sources confirmed the plans.
Jeffrey Hunker, director of the Critical
Infrastructure Assurance Office (created
by Presidential Decision Directive 63) was
aware of the plans. Jack Gribben,
spokesman for the President's Council for
the Year 2000 also knew of the exercise.
"We're certainly working with them, but
the council per se would not be
coordinating," explained Gribben of the
relationship with the COMEX/MOBEX plans.
The role of the President's Council on the
Year 2000 is to help bring the many
agencies of government together and
facilitate awareness and cooperation
between the various departments of
government.
"We're trying to build on what are the
existing structures out there in terms of
emergency response. There's obviously FEMA
and the Guard on a domestic level.
Internationally there's (the departments
of) State and Defense, and so should
anything arise that's Y2K-related, how can
we build on those existing relationships
and structures in terms of offering
assistance wherever we can," Gribben
explained.
The National Guard is not the only group
that has identified a communications
blackout as a possible scenario as a
result of the Y2K computer problem. If
communications and power are out at the
start of the millennium, planners in the
National Guard Bureau believe there will
be civil unrest and riots.
If the National Guard is needed in such an
emergency, lack of communications would
prevent a recall of all 480,000 of the
nation's weekend warriors. COMEX/MOBEX is
intended to test a specially installed
high frequency radio network and command
structure as an alternative to the phone
system.
"FEMA is our chair of our emergency
services working group within the council.
We certainly work closely with FEMA and
DOD and the Guard. And will over the next
year in terms of contingency planning and
how the federal government might play a
role with state and local governments,"
explained Gribben of the role of the
President's Council on the Year 2000.
FEMA and the National Guard are not the
only organizations making contingency
plans in the event there is a
communications blackout. Such a failure
would cause a serious threat to the
nation's power grid.
All the power plants in the U.S.
communicate with each other using computer
links over phone lines. If the phone
system was out, power plants would shut
down. Plans are now under way to devise an
alternative method of communication to
keep the power grid up and running.
The North American Electric Reliability
Council is planning a similar test to
COMEX/MOBEX. The test will involve a
special radio network that will provide
computer communications in the event of
telephone failure.
"We just did a briefing this week on
this," explained Gribben. "The utilities
industry is doing drills in April and
September of this year related to Y2K.
"The April drill specifically relates to
communications. The electric power
industry is dependent on
telecommunications. The drill that they've
planned in April is one that assumes that
there is some sort of failure in
telecommunications services related to
Y2K. How do they then carry out what they
need to do relying on back up systems like
radios and such," he described.
The NERC is responsible for reporting on
the Y2K status of the electric utility
industry to the U.S. Department of Energy.
"Although there is clearly much more work
to be done, we have found that North
America's electric power supply and
delivery system are well on their way to
being Y2K ready," said Michehl R. Gent,
NERC president.
Gent predicts there will be only minimal
problems with electric systems as a result
of the Y2K bug. Sen. Bennett agrees with
him, saying that there is only a 5 percent
or less chance of power loss.
The latest report by the NERC to the
Department of Energy identifies voice and
data telecommunications as an area of
concern. Plans are underway for joint
testing of telephone and electric power
systems, as well as contingency planning
in the event of a communications failure.
-------
David M. Bresnahan, a contributing editor
for WorldNetDaily.com, is the author of
"Cover Up: The Art and Science of
Political Deception," and offers a monthly
newsletter "Talk USA Investigative
Reports." He may be reached through email
and also maintains a website.
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