EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PLANNING
WASHINGTON 25, D.C.

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

October 26, 1962

EMERGENCY EVACUATION PLAN FOR THE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT AND CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS

The Office of Emergency Planning has made arrangements with the military to evacuate the nine Members of the Court, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the House and the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate in an emergency. The military plan to accomplish this is known officially as the "Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan" or "JEEP" for short.

Upon the sounding of a Civil Defense public warning a helicopter will set down at 2nd Street N. W. and Washington Drive, immediately west of the Capitol. Should the President decide that key officials of the Government should evacuate Washington on an emergency basis prior to the sounding of the public warning, the Clerk of the Court and the Architect of the Capitol will be so notified by telephone and the same procedure will be followed as in the case of a Civil Defense public warning. At present this emergency service is available only between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, exclusive of holidays. The Office of Emergency Planning is presently working with the military to extend the scope of this service as the developing situation requires and you will be notified of any extension of the hours of service.

The helicopter will depart within 30 minutes following the first public warning or at a specific time set by the President.

The helicopter will transport the Members of the Court and the Congress to the Office of Emergency Planning Classified Location on top of Mt. Weather, near the Appalachian Trail, approximately four miles southwest of Bluemont, Virginia. To get to the Classified Location by automobile from Washington, take Virginia Route 7, west through Purcellville, 7½ miles to Virginia Route 601 and thence left four miles to the entrance gate.

If the Justices of the Court are relocated to the Classified Location, when circumstances (fallout) permit, they may be transferred by fixed wing aircraft to the Supreme Court's emergency facility at the Grove Park Inn at Asheville, North Carolina.

The flight time from Washington to the Classified Location by helicopter is approximately thirty minutes.

SECURITY

Information that there is such a relocation service is CONFIDENTIAL and on a need-to-know basis. Specific information as to take-off point and recipients of the service is SECRET and on a need-to-know basis. Location of the Classified Location is CONFIDENTIAL.

/S/
Edward A. McDermott
Director