The representative of the Secretary of Defense was called to Cheyenne Mountain in 1974, to decide on whether to retaliate against the Soviet Union, after ballistic trajectory data regarding an imminent attack on the United States arrived at NORAD. As the President and most of his staff were away for the SALT II talks at Vladivostok, he, some of the members of the war room, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were forced to make the decision themselves.