If you’re like me, you probably spend a serious amount of time thinking about how an actual zombie apocalypse would transpire. Other people may dismiss your endless rumination as nothing more than the needless musings of a bored blogger. However, little do they know that the people who run and protect our fine country have also spent a considerable amount of time mulling over a zombie apocalypse. In fact, the federal government actually came up with a contingency plan should our nation be cursed by the walking dead.

Yes, within the confines of the Department of Defense, an actual document exists that delineates what should be done in case there is a zombie apocalypse. The document is titled ‘CONOP 8888’. (I call dibs on that movie title!) According to ‘Foreign Policy’, ‘CONOP 8888’ is a “how to guide for military planners” who aim to salvage humanity from the hell of a zombie holocaust.

The plan to thwart the legions of the undead is known in the document as “Counter-Zombie Dominance”. (I call dibs on that movie title, too!) According to ‘CONOP 8888’, the “worst case threat scenario” would be a high level of “transmissibility” in that zombies would be infecting humans so rapidly that very little could be done to prevent this from happening.

So… did George Romero serve as a consultant? Can he add “strategic military specialist” to his resume?

Now before you go all Daryl Dixon on me, note that ‘CONOP 8888’ was originally developed as a training manual for commanders on how to create tactics in the event of a national calamity. It was created in April 2011 by Omaha’s US Strategic Command. In fact, the planners chose the hypothetical zombie apocalypse in case anyone would confuse ‘CONOP 8888’ for an actual military plan and start freaking out over impending doom.

The authors for ‘CONOP 8888’ write, “Planners… realized that training example for plans must accommodate the political fallout that occurs if the general public mistakenly believes that a fictional training scenario is actually a real plan.”

Well, even if the zombie apocalypse is quite far from ever being a reality, it’s still nice to know our military is somewhat prepared.

Source: NBC News