In United States military doctrine, LERTCON is an abbreviation of alert condition, and is a measure of the level of action and readiness to be taken in a given situation. LERTCON is used by US and Allied forces who are assigned to NATO.[1] There are specific procedures laid out for responses to changes in LERTCON. LERTCON levels can be broken down into high-alert emergency condition levels (EMERGCONs) and the more common Defense Condition levels (DEFCONs).