<P> Following the axe murder incident at Panmunjom on August 18, 1976, readiness levels for American forces in South Korea were increased to DEFCON 3, where they remained throughout Operation Paul Bunyan which followed thereafter . </P> <P> During the attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ordered the increased DEFCON level to 3, and also a stand - by for a possible increase to DEFCON 2 . </P> <Ul> <Li> DEFCON was used significantly in the films Armageddon, WarGames, Thirteen Days, Watchmen, Independence Day, The Sum of All Fears, By Dawn's Early Light, Crimson Tide, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Beavis and Butt - Head Do America, and Canadian Bacon . </Li> <Li> The television series Deutschland 83 depicts the events which occurred in 1983 when the level was raised to a simulated DEFCON 1 during NATO exercise Able Archer 83 . In the story line, briefing papers released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that Operation Able Archer, a major war games exercise conducted in November 1983 by the US and its NATO allies, was so realistic it made the Soviets believe that a nuclear strike on its territory was a real possibility . </Li> <Li> The 2006 real - time strategy video game DEFCON . </Li> <Li> The video game "Unturned". In the game the DEFCON system appears to have been adopted worldwide; the level is raised to a DEFCON 1 after the start of a zombie infection . </Li> <Li> Surf punk band Man or Astro - man? released an album in 2013 titled Defcon 5...4...3...2...1 featuring songs titled for every level of the DEFCON system . </Li> <Li> British Indie band Pop Will Eat Itself (PWEI) released a song titled "Def . Con . One". </Li> <Li> In The Santa Clause 2, starring Tim Allen, the North Pole's defense system is revealed to be based on levels of ELFCON, a reference to the United States' DEFCON . </Li> </Ul> <Li> DEFCON was used significantly in the films Armageddon, WarGames, Thirteen Days, Watchmen, Independence Day, The Sum of All Fears, By Dawn's Early Light, Crimson Tide, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Beavis and Butt - Head Do America, and Canadian Bacon . </Li>

When was the last time we were at defcon 1