The continuity of operations plan ensures the US government can perform essential functions during a national emergency. Agencies must identify essential functions and put in place succession orders and delegations of authority. The plan includes four phases: readiness, activation, continuation, and recovery. Agencies may also have department-specific plans. High-level officials may need to make personal sacrifices, including leaving their families, to participate in the plan.
Plan continuity of operations, or continuity of government plan, is a strategy put in place by the US government that would ensure the government remains capable of performing essential functions in the event of a national emergency. The plan was originally conceived during the Cold War, but was first put into action after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Originally, it was a plan put into effect by President Dwight Eisenhower to deal with the aftermath of a possible nuclear attack, and to ensure the survival of federal government operations. Today, the governments of many countries and even corporations have developed similar plans.
In order for the continuity of the operational plan to continue to successfully perform government functions, a few things must happen. Each agency, together with the executive office of the president, has the task of putting in place succession orders, delegations of authority, continuity of structures, as well as identifying which are the essential functions to be performed. In some cases, if the president is incapacitated or otherwise cannot be reached during a time of emergency, the business continuity plan could give other individuals limited authority that usually only the president has.
The business continuity plan includes four distinct phases. The first is the readiness and preparation of the operation. The second is the activation and transfer of essential services and personnel in an emergency. The third phase is the full-scale continuation of contingency operations. The fourth phase is recovery, which generally means the resumption of normal operations after the emergency has been resolved.
Individual agencies may, from time to time, be forced to enter a department- or agency-specific business continuity plan that applies only to that particular agency. For example, if a headquarters is attacked or damaged by a natural disaster, the plan would be triggered. This may not command much external attention, especially if the emergency is accidental in nature, but it does provide the agency with the ability to not only continue operations but also better understand how it might respond to a larger-scale emergency.
This type of plan may require great personal sacrifice on the part of high-level officials. When the plan is triggered by a perceived imminent threat, a government is formed in a safe place that could be used to run the country in an emergency. This could include senior staff from various departments, who are asked to leave their families for extended periods of time to take part in the security measure.
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