Tracking events during the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the United States Strategic Command and Offutt Air Force in Nebraska.
Created by alueders77 on Aug 11, 2011
Last updated: 01/28/13 at 08:02 AM
Tags: Strategic Air Command 9/11 Air Force STRATCOM Nebraska nuclear Omaha war Barksdale President Bush Air Force One SAC Pentagon Bellevue terrorism military airman B-52 attack
S MSgt Darrell Amoruso, Crew Chief, E-4 Airborne Command Post: "I was on the night shift. I was actually on the (Airborne Command Post) that night. You still wonder what’s out there when it turns dark. Is there some other terrorist out there that’s trying to attack us or what? You never know. So I remember sitting up in the flight deck that particular night and the skies were pitch black. There was no aircraft that were allowed to fly."
President George W. Bush: “Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.”
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: "In the late afternoon, the President overruled his aides’ continuing reluctance to have him return to the Washington and ordered Air Force One back to Andrews Air Force Base. He was flown by helicopter back to the White House, passing over the still-smoldering Pentagon."
Jeff Noe, Superintendent, 55th Wing Command Post: "When we got a call that said, he’s leaving. That’s it. STRATCOM handles that. We’re are handling (55th) Wing Action Support and we said, fine refuel the aircraft and get him out of here and he goes. That’s well above my pay grade. I thought it was important that he went back to the seat of government. I think that is critical. That’s where he belongs."
S MSgt Darrell Amoruso, Crew Chief, E-4 Airborne Command Post: "After we prepared the (Airborne Command Post), we found out that we were going to take off first and be a decoy for the Air Force One on the way back to Andrews Air Force Base. Our aircraft is often times (mistaken for the) Presidential aircraft based on its size and the similarities. So that was the plan to protect the President. So we took off first and off and on our wingtips we had some F-16 (fighter jets) that were flying with us. They escorted us back to Andrews Air Force Base."
Richard Meis, Commander-In-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command: "This video teleconference had about probably six or seven different parties and there was a lively and interactive discussion, which started out with a quick assessment of who might have been responsible. It was far far too early to make a definitive judgment on that. It was interesting from my standpoint that most of the discussion really focused on the importance of and the desire of the President to get back to Washington, to reassure the American people, re-instill confidence in them."
Al Buckles, Deputy Director for Operations & Logistics STRATCOM: "(President Bush’s) entrance into the Command Center, which is underground, was a spiral staircase that goes straight down for seventy-five to eighty feet. You’re just spiraling down into it like a cave. At the bottom, he comes out and there’s this very large room, with eigh screens all in color showing everything that’s going on that we can get our hands on. We were all standing at attention and everybody just sat down and went back to work."
Richard Meis, Commander-In-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command: "I made the decision that it was senseless to go into the front entrance of our Command headquarters and through a tunnel into the underground facility. I had the driver stop out near the front lawn in front of the building where the fire escape exit is and took the President down because I thought that was the more appropriate path to get him (in) as rapidly as possible."
Richard Meis, Commander-In-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command: "I picked up the President, escorted him into the back seat of the car, and we had the driver take us back to the front entrance. I briefed him on what I knew. You have to appreciate that, when you’re airborne, the bandwidth at the time in those aircraft was pretty restricted and so you (didn’t) have the ability to see live television or those kinds of things to the degree that we have that now. I wanted to ensure that he was fully apprised of the situation as best I knew it."
Chad Vann, STRATCOM computer emergency response team: "We had a visitor, not even a phone call, knocked on the door and said, the President’s coming to Offutt. Here’s why and here’s what’s going to happen and we need to take some steps to ensure that the fact that the President’s coming here is kept on a very close hold. So we took measures to try to protect that information from getting out. Even things as innocent as someone calling their spouse on a cell phone or an email. People can intercept that very easily. We didn’t know who was doing what in this country, so (we were) trying to keep that as close hold as possible that he was coming."
Richard Meis, Commander-In-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command We learned about a half hour out that the President was going to come to Offutt. The principal reason Offutt was the logical place is that STRATCOM is a large communications hub for our National Command & Control Systems. (At Offutt) he could communicate with the other national leadership people. The Secret Service was not willing to let him go back to Washington at the time.
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: The traveling part returned to Air Force One. The next destination was discussed: once again the Secret Service recommended against returning to Washington and the Vice President agreed. Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska was chosen because of its elaborate command and control facilities and because it could accommodate overnight lodging for 50 persons. The Secret Service wanted a place where the President could spend several days if necessary.
President George W. Bush “Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward. And freedom will be defended. Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts. The resolve of our great nation is being tested, but make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass this test.”
Residents of western Nebraska report seeing security personnel in full combat gear patrolling around nuclear missile silos. Richard Meis, Commander-In-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command I wasn’t very worried about the security of the ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) forces in our silos. I was much more concerned about our bombers which were concentrated at our bases in this (Global Guardian) exercise. I wanted to get those bombers dispersed as rapidly as possible. A lot of reactions were taken by local base commanders to heighten their sense of security because there was a huge amount of uncertainty. Is this just the first wave of a larger series of attacks? Or does the crash in Pennsylvania signify the end of the attacks?
Al Buckles, Deputy Director for Operations & Logistics STRATCOM. “Remember (because of the war game underway) we have some 60 plus B-52s all loaded ready to go to “war” with nuclear weapons. So can you imagine the President landing at Barksdale and looking out and seeing all of these (bombers) and saying, ‘geez what’s this?’ And this is your nuclear arsenal. It’s on alert ready to go.”
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: The immediate objective was to find a safe location, not too far away, where the President could land and speak to the American people. The Secret Service was also interested in refueling the aircraft and paring down the size of the traveling party. The President’s military aide quickly researched the options and identified Barksdale AFB as an appropriate interim destination.
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: General Larry Arnold instructed his staff to broadcast the following over a NORAD instant messaging system: ‘Vice President has cleared to us to intercept tracks of interest and shoot them down if they do not respond.’
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: The immediate objective was to find a safe location, not too far away, where the President could land and speak to the American people. The Secret Service was also interested in refueling the aircraft and paring down the size of the traveling party. The President’s military aide quickly researched the options and identified Barksdale AFB as an appropriate interim destination.
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: “We are sure that the nation owes a debt to the passengers of United 93. Their actions saved the lives of countless others and may have saved either the Capitol or the White House from destruction.”
Jeff Noe, Superintendent, 55th Wing Command Post “Once we got our first real world message saying, ‘change your THREATCON (level to DELTA) then everybody starts talking, this is a terrorist event, it’s not (another country attacking us), it’s a terrorist event. Guys and gals in full combat gear at the gates for 12 hour shifts. You knew it was really serious.”
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: At 9:58:59 (eastern time) the South Tower collapsed in ten seconds, killing all civilians and emergency personnel inside. The building collapsed into itself, causing a ferocious windstorm and creating a massive debris cloud. When the South Tower collapsed, firefighters in the North Tower heard a violent roar and many were knocked off their feet.
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: (Shortly before Air Force One departs the President tells Vice President Cheney) “Sounds like we have a minor war going on here. We’re at war. Somebody’s going to pay.” The Secret Service agent felt strongly that the situation in Washington was too unstable to return. The President …only grudgingly agreed to go elsewhere.”
Thomas Hallowell, Intelligence Analyst, 55th Wing, Offutt AFB “ We got to the end of the runway and I had all my radios up. It was weird because the pilot revved up the engines like we were going to take off and then he just killed them. It was just instant silence and there was a lot of garble all over the radios. I heard something about the Pentagon burning and that’s when it really struck us what’s going on.”
S MSgt Darrell Amoruso, Crew Chief, (aka The Doomsday Plane) “We get airborne, immediately we hear that the pilot has seen that on the left side of the aircraft, smoke billowing out of the Pentagon area, where an aircraft had just crashed. Being able to see that—it was heart-wrenching. It just really hits home to us that they’ve attacked a facility that has that much security. What else is there that they’re going to attack? What else is there going to be in the world that we’re not going to be able to stop? So in order order for us to fix this, we need to be in the air, collect that intel, and try to prevent any future incidents.”
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: The news (that one hijacked plane was heading toward the District of Columbia) prompted the Secret Service to order the immediate evacuation of the Vice President. Agents propelled him out of his chair and told him to get to the bunker. Once inside, the Vice President asked to speak to the President. We believe this is the same call in which the Vice President urged the President not to return to Washington.
The National Emergency Airborne Command Post, (aka The Doomsday Plane) receives orders to take off immediately from Andrews Air Force Base where it was stationed as part of the Global Guardian exercise. S MSgt Darrell Amoruso, Crew Chief, (aka The Doomsday Plane) “It wasn’t until I boarded the aircraft and we’re ready to taxi out that I get the news that an aircraft has struck one of the World Trade Center towers. We’re trying to capture some additional information. I’m thinking, chaos. You know, we are at war at this point. So we need to get this aircraft airborne.”
President George W. Bush “Today we've had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. I've ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act. Terrorism against our nation will not stand.”
the Report of the 9/11 Commission: “(The President) then returned to a holding room (at the elementary school) shortly before 9:15 where he was briefed by staff and saw television coverage. He decided to make a brief statement from the school before leaving from the airport. The Secret Service told us they were anxious to move the President to a safer location, but did not think it imperative for him to run out the door. The focus was on the President’s statement to the nation. The only decision made during this time was to return to Washington.”
From the Report of the 9/11 Commission: (The Federal Aviation Administration’s) Herndon Command Center knew two aircraft had crashed into the World Trade Center. They knew American 77 (heading to the Pentagon) was lost. At least some FAA officials in Boston Center and the New England Region knew that a hijacker on board American 11 had said “we have some planes.” Concerns over the safety of other aircraft began to mount. A manager at the Herndon Command Center asked FAA headquarters if they wanted to order a “nationwide ground stop.” While this was being discussed by executives at FAA headquarters, the Command Center ordered one at 9:25.
Al Buckles, Deputy Director for Operations & Logistics STRATCOM. “The exercise was terminated. That was part of us telling our adversary (other nations with nuclear weapons) ‘we’re out of here.’ We’re gonna download these things, get em back into storage as fast as we can. We wanted to get our crews back normalized because don’t know what’s going to fall now. So they put (the bombers and missles) back in.”
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card (whispering to the President) "A second plane hit the second tower. America is under attack.”
Richard Meis, Commander-In-Chief of U.S. Strategic Command: “It was obvious that we were to some degree under attack and this was not an accident. As soon as I got to the Command Center, I terminated our (Global Guardian) exercise and shifted our focus to stand down our strategic forces and to posture them in a far, far more secure way because you had no idea of how extensive this attack was and how far-reaching it might be. You wanted to position your forces so they’re as invulnerable and as survivable as possible.”
Jeff Noe, Superintendent, 55th Wing Command Post, Offutt AFB: “When the next one hit the General came right down and said ‘do we have any traffic on this? Do we know what’s happening?’ He immediately put the same thing together. This isn’t right. Something’s wrong. He started talking about assembling his senior staff. Thereafter headquarters started sending traffic telling us to take readiness and protection actions cause nobody knew exactly what was going on..”
7:46 Jeff Noe, Superintendent, 55th Wing Command Post/Offutt AFB “We walked out to my Emergency Action Cell monitoring their normal traffic in the maintenance operations center and I (say) did you guys catch that on the news? Somethin’ doen’t feel right, call the General and let him know he might want to turn on the news.”
STRATCOM commander Admiral Richard Meis prepares to greet corporate executives in town as part of Warren Buffett’s annual charity golf tournament.
A global war game exercise known as Global Guardian plays out a scenario in which the United States comes under nuclear attack from a fictional nation. Al Buckles, Deputy Director for Operations & Logistics STRATCOM: “Global Guardian was STRATCOM’s annual exercise where (we used all of it’s) assets: the missiles, the bombers, the tankers, the ICBMs, all the command and control assets. You’re playing the world’s capability because all of this now is integrated with the regional combat commanders. It’s a huge exercise.”
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