1. What are the main organization structure concepts/key terms? Can you define them? 

2. Read the case study Human button, and look for examples of these. 

3. What are this organization’s goals? How does this organization structure operate to achieve them? 

Human button 

In 2012, the responsibility for the British nuclear deterrent rests with the Royal Navy. Its fleet of four ballistic submarines – the SSBNs (Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear) – is based at Faslane in Scotland. One of the submarines – HMS Vanguard, Victorious, Vigilant, or Vengeance – is always on patrol, undetectable, in the North Atlantic. They patrol for 90 days at a time, do not surface except in an emergency, and are not allowed any communication out of the boat. Every day, the captain is required to write a patrol report and a narration, explaining why certain things were done. Each SSBN is organized into departments, each headed by a senior officer who reports to the captain: Logistics (divided into Catering Services, Supply Chain, and Personnel); Marine Engineering; Medical; Warfare; and Weapons Engineering. Only a few of the most senior officers are allowed to know its location. Each is armed with up to 16 Trident II, D5 submarine launched, ballistic missiles whose destructive power is equivalent to all the explosives used in the Second World War. Even if Britain was utterly destroyed in a surprise attack, that one, lone submarine will always be ready and able to strike back with overwhelming force. That is the theory of nuclear deterrence. 

There is a human button communication system that triggers the retaliation procedure and has many built-in redundancy factors to anticipate problems. At one end of the communication chain is the British Prime Minster who makes the final decision. The PM’s directive, detailing the target and release time, is sent from the government emergency room, somewhere below Whitehall. It is conveyed through his Chief of Defence Staff to the bunker facility at Northwood, under the Chiltern Hills in the south of England, known as ‘The Hole’. Located there is Task Force 345’s operations room from where the command and control of Britain’s nuclear deterrent is exercised. At Northwood, the prime ministerial directive is authenticated, first by one A-list and then by one-B-list officer. The National Firing Message, as it is known, is then put into the system and goes onto the broadcast, which is continuously transmitted to the SSBN at sea. On board the submarine, the firing order is scrutinized by two officers, and checked against codes in the submarine’s safe. Three keys are engaged, and the captain gives the order to fire. 

What happens if the Prime Minister is killed or The Hole is destroyed in a pre-emptive nuclear attack? In anticipation of this, the PM nominates an alternate – that is, a decision maker from the Cabinet, who will make a decision in their place, if required. In addition, early in each new Prime Minister’s tenure, the Cabinet Secretary briefs the PM on the choices to be made from beyond the grave. Since the 1960s, each Prime Minister has written what is known as a Letter of Last Resort. It details what the PM’s wishes are in the event of a nuclear attack on the United Kingdom. There are believed to be four options for the submarine commander: retaliate; do not retaliate; put yourself under the command of the United States or Australian Navy; or ‘submarine captain to use his own judgement’. The Prime Minister makes his choice, writes the letter in longhand, and signs it personally, and a copy of it is placed in the safe of each of the four nuclear submarines. Britain is the only nuclear power that uses this letter system. When the Prime Minister demits from office, his letter of last resort is destroyed unread. In a deteriorating geopolitical situation, if the submarine captain loses contact with Northwood, he first assures himself that Britain is an irradiated ruin and much of its population is dead. His orders are then to go, with his Executive Officer, to the safe in the submarine floor, remove the PM’s letter of last resort, and act on its contents. However, it is not the captain who pulls the nuclear trigger. The submarine is brought up to hover position, still submerged, before firing, and the launch order is communicated by the captain to his Weapons Engineering Officer (known as ‘The Weo’), who has the rank of Lieutenant Commander. It is he who pulls the trigger on the Colt 45 pistol handle whose wire runs from its butt. This allows the Weo to check other data on his control panels while holding the nuclear trigger in his hand. The trigger can only be activated if the captain turns a key on a panel in the control room. Below is the verbatim transcript of the final section of the launch procedure, as used in the practice drill. It represents the end of the firing chain which began with the Prime Minister’s order. Below is the oral exchange between the commanding officer (A) and his various subordinates (B) who respond by confirming orders and asking for permission. After the sound of a click, the Weo says ‘One away’. The first missile will have gone, and the end of the world will have arrived. 

A: Hover command, commence hovering.
B: Commence hovering.
A: Stop engine.
B: Stop engine.
A: Ship control in condition 1SQ.
B: Condition 1SQ, Roger.
A: Weo in the missile control centre – clocks.
B: Check.
A: Come IRT.
B: Check.
A: Slow ready handover.
B: Semi-package has been shifted, we’re on the active target package, in access to the safe, missile spinning up.
A: I have the system . . .
A: We are fire control. Fire control in condition 1SQ for strategic launch.
B: Fire control in condition 1SQ for strategic launch, Roger.
A: Command Weo, weapons system in condition 1SQ for strategic launch.
B: Weo requires permission to fire.
A: Supervisor Weo, initiate fire 1.