Whiskey Hotel (level)

"So when are we goin' to Moscow?" "Not soon enough man. But I know we're gonna burn it down when we get there." "When the time is right, Corporal. When the time is right."

- A Ranger, Corporal Dunn, and Sergeant Foley

You start where you left off in "Second Sun". From the bunker your team emerges onto the South Lawn of the White House and meets up with Colonel Marshall. The Col. explains to Sgt. Foley that they're looking at the "high ground", seeing the American flag still up on top of the White House, which has been severely damaged and fortified with spotlights and machine gun nests. With power still in it, the squad should be able to talk to Central Command if they can retake it. Sgt. Foley leads his team over the left flank to reach the West Wing. The machine gun fire will make it difficult to advance, especially on the harder difficulties, but destroying the searchlights does help make the gunners less attentive to you. Hearing from a speaker behind a painting in the Oval Office, the team has 2 minutes before the Air Force, assuming the city is lost, initiates the "Hammerdown Protocol" and flattens the city in order to take out the Russians. The strike will be aborted if green smoke is spotted on the roof of the White House. You then fight your way through the building and successfully reach the roof at the nick of time to pop green flares signaling the Air Force to abort the fire mission. As you look out at a burning Washington D.C., you see other buildings marked with green flares as the sun sets behind the Washington Monument. The battle for DC may be won, but the war is just beginning.

Trivia

 * Whiskey Hotel is the military designation using the NATO Phonetic Alphabet for White House".


 * The White House apparently sustained heavy damage, as parts of its facade are bombed out, the South Lawn is a mess of craters, and a Mig-29 almost crashed into the West Wing.


 * It is unknown what the fate of the President is, and it is implied he did evacuate the city, as Foley and the squad come upon the Presidential Bunker, which is completely destroyed and empty, but the EMP was observed to take out all air transportaion and probably ground transport, if the President was not evacuated earlier little hope for his life remains in fast transportation.


 * The Washington Monument is shown to be in line with the White House's South Lawn. It is actually to the southeast of the White House, so if one were to look at it's location in game from the White House's South Lawn, it would be actually be slightly to the left.


 * When you look closely at Col. Marshal, his lips might not move while he's talking to Sgt. Foley.


 * Even when there's no timer appearing on the screen towards the end of the level, you do need to get to the roof within two minutes. You don't however need to pop the flares yourself once you've got there, as there is always another friendly AI who is also popping flares.


 * If you look closely, the jets that abandon the Hammerdown air strike are not USAF fighters, but Russian Mig-29s.


 * In Second Sun, Ramirez's uniform and wrist-GPS have been heavily damaged, but now they are back in a pristine condition. Even if Ramirez had had the chance to change (which is very unlikely considering this level picks up where the last level ended), his wrist-GPS should not be working because of the EMP's adverse effect on all kinds of electronic devices.


 * In the previous level, Second Sun, you go through the Eisenhower Building to the President's bunker on the east wing. In a real map, the Eisenhower Building is actually west of the White House, whereas when you start you somehow come out east of the White House when the previous level you ended to the west.


 * The ending to this mission bears a strong resemblance to the climax of the movie The Rock in that the protagonist must pop a green signal (smoke in the movie, flare in the game) to abort an incoming airstrike.


 * "Hammerdown Protocol" is an easter egg and a reference to the movie Cloverfield. Definition: "a planned series of military offensive tactics in which a target location such as an area, political region like a city, town, state or even a country is completely destroyed using highly explosive detonation devices such as tactical nuclear weapons or napalm bombs." The names doesn't actually exists, such protocols in DEFCON wouldn't have that name.


 * You can find a mounted M249 SAW in the beginning of the level.
 * Even if Pvt. Sandler died in the previous mission he reappears in this mission though still not invincible.
 * At the end of this mission, the player themselves do not have to pop the green flares to abort the strikes, as the jets will disperse anyway