Sec. 213.6  Criteria.

    (a) Flash, Flash Emergency. (1) This is the highest order of 
precedence and shall be strictly limited to Federal and Foreign 
Government agencies.
    (2) Flash, or Flash Emergency telephone calls or messages shall be 
handled in the order received and ahead of all calls or messages except 
as indicated for international messages in ITU Regulations. When 
necessary to obtain a circuit for a Flash, or Flash Emergency call any 
call in progress of a lesser precedence will be interrupted, if 
feasible. Any message of a lesser precedence in the process of 
transmission will be halted, if feasible, to clear the channel for the 
Flash or Flash Emergency transmission. Flash or Flash Emergency 
precedence shall be reserved for calls and messages having an immediate 
bearing on:
    (i) Command and control of military forces essential to defense and 
retaliation.
    (ii) Critical intelligence essential to national survival.
    (iii) Conduct of diplomatic negotiations critical to the arresting 
or limiting of hostilities.
    (iv) Dissemination of critical civil alert information essential to 
national survival.
    (v) Continuity of Federal governmental functions essential to 
national survival.
    (vi) Fulfillment of critical U.S. internal security functions 
essential to national survival.
    (vii) Catastrophic events of national or international significance, 
such as Presidential Action Notices essential to national survival 
during attack or preattack conditions.
    (b) Immediate, Immediate Emergency, Urgent. Immediate, Immediate 
Emergency, or Urgent telephone calls or messages shall be handled as 
fast as possible and ahead of all other calls or messages except those 
having a higher precedence. Any message or call of a lower precedence in 
the process of transmission will be halted, if feasible, to clear the 
channel for this transmission. It will be reserved generally for calls 
or messages pertaining to:
    (1) Situations which gravely affect the security of national and 
allied forces.
    (2) Reconstitution of forces in a postattack period.
    (3) Intelligence essential to national security.
    (4) Conduct of diplomatic negotiations to reduce or limit the threat 
of war.
    (5) Implementation of Federal Government actions essential to 
national survival.
    (6) Situations which gravely affect the internal security of the 
United States.
    (7) Civil defense actions concerning direction of our population and 
its survival.

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    (8) Disasters or events of extensive seriousness having an immediate 
and detrimental effect on the welfare of the population.
    (9) Vital information having an immediate effect on aircraft, 
spacecraft, or missile operations.
    (c) Priority, Priority Emergency, Urgent. Priority, Priority 
Emergency, or Urgent messages and calls shall take precedence over 
messages or calls designated Routine, or in the case of common carriers, 
over all nonprecedence traffic. Priority, Priority Emergency, or Urgent 
precedence is generally reserved for calls or messages which require 
expeditious action. Examples are calls or messages pertaining to:
    (1) Information on locations where attack is impending or where fire 
or air support will soon be placed.
    (2) Air-ground integrated operations.
    (3) Important intelligence.
    (4) Important diplomatic information.
    (5) Important information concerning the launch, operation, or 
recovery of spacecraft or missiles.
    (6) Movement of naval, air, and ground forces.
    (7) Coordination between governmental agencies concerning the 
performance of emergency preparedness functions.
    (8) Major civil aircraft accidents.
    (9) Maintaining the public health, safety, and the welfare of our 
population.
    (10) Critical logistic functions, provisions of critical public 
utility services, and administrative military support functions.
    (11) Distributing essential food and supplies critical to health.
    (12) Accomplishing tasks necessary to insure critical damage control 
functions.
    (13) Preparations for adequate hospitalization.
    (14) Continuity of critical Government functions.
    (15) Arranging minimum transportation for accomplishing the 
aforesaid functions.
    (16) Continuing or reestablishing our more important financial, 
economic, health, and safety activities. Producing, procuring, and 
distributing food materials and supplies which are considered necessary 
to the immediate support of a war effort, the national defense, or for 
expediting the means of meeting the effects of natural disasters.
    (17) Prompt delivery of information by press representatives to news 
media organizations and newspapers covering news of national or 
widespread disasters.
    (d) Routine; no domestic equivalent. Routine precedence designation 
applies to those normal day-to-day communications which require rapid 
transmission by telephone or message, but do not require urgent or 
preferential handling.