The United States may have one of the largest armies on earth, but even the Pentagon has taken no chances at being caught off-guard by an unusual foe. In fact, inthe U. Department of Defense released a strategy to combat a potential zombie apocalypse.
While the potential opponents might be fictional, the military took it seriously. The origins of the plan can be traced to training exercises held in andduring which young officers participating in the t Operational Planning and Execution System realized the potential upsides to planning for a hypothetical zombie attack.
With roving zombies as the target in these fake scenarios, rather than enemies in real-life potential hotspots like Tunisia or Nigeria, there was a much smaller risk of the plan being taken seriously—or ruffling diplomatic feathers.
And the fantastical idea of battling zombies helped new newcomers think outside the box when it came to devising creative strategies and tactics. It also tapped into the growing pop culture fascination with zombies. As a result, they would be forced to work on the plantation for eternity.
The terrifying—and thrilling—myths surrounding the undead really caught on in the United States with the release of the film The Night of the Living Dead. First, create and uphold a defensive plan to protect humankind from mind-munching predators. Second, establish procedures to eradicate any threat of zombies.
Third, restore law and order to a war-ridden economy. As it turns out, laws prohibiting military violence, both domestically and internationally, are only geared towards human and animal life.
So in the case of an invading horde of unknown pathogenic beings, zombies seem to be fair game. The Center for Disease Control CDC has also played off the popularity of The Walking Dead and other zombie-related cultural phenomena, releasing a zombie preparedness plan to better inform the public of what to do if—or when—a disaster strikes.
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