The nuclear football (also known as the atomic football, the president's emergency satchel, the Presidential Emergency Satchel, the button, the black box, or just the football) is a briefcase, the contents of which are to be used by the president of the United States to authorize a nuclear attack while away from fixed command centers, such as the White House Situation Room or the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. It functions as a mobile hub in the strategic defense system of the United States. It is held by an aide-de-camp. Contents In his 1980 book Breaking Cover, Bill Gulley, former director of the White House Military Office, wrote: According to a 2005 Washington Post article, the president is always accompanied by a military aide carrying the nuclear football with launch codes for nuclear weapons. A separate 2005 article described the football as a metal Zero Halliburton briefcase. Another 2005 article described it as a leather briefcase weighing about , and included a photo of an aide carrying such a case. A small antenna protrudes from the bag near the handle, suggesting that it also contains communications equipment of some kind. Operation If the US president (who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces) decides to order the use of nuclear weapons, they would be taken aside by the football "carrier" and the briefcase would be opened. A command signal, or "watch" alert, would then be issued to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The president would then review the attack options with the secretary of defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and decide on a plan, which could range from the launch of a single cruise missile to that of multiple ICBMs. These are among the preset war plans developed under OPLAN 8010 (formerly the Single Integrated Operational Plan). Then, using Milstar, the aide, a military officer, would contact the National Military Command Center and NORAD to determine the scope of the pre-emptive nuclear strike and prepare a second strike, following which Milstar/Advanced Extremely High Frequency or Boeing E-4Bs and TACAMOs would transmit the currently valid nuclear launch code to all operational nuclear delivery systems. Where a two-person verification procedure is to be executed following this, the codes would be entered in a Permissive Action Link. Before the order can be processed by the military, the president must be positively identified using a special code issued on a