PACE plan: primary, alternate, contingency, emergency

US Army publication ATP 6-02.12 describes PACE as a long-standing communications planning method that gives predictability and redundancy in degraded, contested or congested conditions. CISA, the US civil cybersecurity and infrastructure agency, carries the same idea over to emergency services, and defines the levels like this:

• Primary: the normal, day-to-day method.
• Alternate: the backup to the primary.
• Contingency: used if both primary and alternate have failed.
• Emergency: the last level, when nothing else is working.

Both sources check each plan against the same criteria. It must be feasible (enough working kit and trained users), acceptable (setting it up does not get in the way of the operation), suitable (enough capacity for the job), distinguishable (no level relies on a method already lost) and complete (every means is listed, with its trigger). The fourth one catches most civilian plans: CISA points out that email, social media and texting can all depend on one phone and one data path. The Army also notes that the emergency level need not be equipment. It can be a procedure, such as moving to a rally point.

A mountain rescue team sets its plan for a valley search. Primary: the app on mobile data. Alternate: SMS. Contingency: VHF radio through a relay on the ridge. Emergency: every team walks to the road junction at 16:00. At 13:40 mobile data fails, and after two failed sends the teams switch to SMS. For the full method see the guide to a communications failure plan. In the preparedness cycle, you write PACE during PREPARE and use it during ADAPT.