Originally posted by: K1052
Originally posted by: Skyclad1uhm1
4. Which is why it is doubtful. But if the command structure would collapse (imagine if they managed to infect Whitehouse personel with Ebola, and it thus reaching the top of the chain of command) there wouldn't be someone able to order the strike, nor to actually keep track of what was happening. The subs and ships would mostly be relatively small groups of soldiers which would suddenly stop being supplies from home.
The order of succession ensures that someone in the government would survive long enough and have the authority to launch a retaliatory strike with the remaining nuclear assets. The most survivable would be the Ohio class SSBNs that are on constant rotating patrols.
Or anything in the air.