Professional Documents
Culture Documents
002/003
INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL
COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON
THE UNITED STATES
Dear Phil:
Stephen A. Cambone
P.03/08
NOU-03-2003 20=59
NOV 3 2003
INTELLIGENCE
National Commission staff members have stated that the Department has not
been fully responsive to their document requests in a number of information
categories, as described in the attachment. Interviews recently conducted by
Commission staff at several Air Force installations, with Air National Guard units,
and at NORAD's North East Air Defense Sector have turned up relevant documents
and other information not previously provided in response to formal Commission
requests.
Stephen A. Cambone
Attachment:
As stated
cc:
OGC
ASD(LA)
ASD(PA)
NOU-03-2003 20=59
(1) After Action Reports. The staff members have received after
action reports from other commands and expected to find a
comprehensive report prepared by NORAD covering the attacks on
September 11 and NORAD's response. They have an interim report
and a set of Power Point slides, but they have not found any
indication that a final report was prepared. They also said that they
are seeking any reports prepared at any level addressing the events
of the day and activities of Air Force or NORAD units at any level.
Page 1 of 4
NOU-03-2003 20=59
Page 2 of 4
~~~ P. 07/08
NOU-03-2003 21=00
Recommendations:
Page 3 of 4
^ P . 0 8 / 0 8
NOU-03-2003 21=00
Page 4 of 4
TOTflL P.08
°*x
Slade Gorton As the Commission finalizes its review of DoD's document production in
preparation for its upcoming visit to NORAD headquarters, a matter that
Bob Kerrey
remains puzzling to us is the absence of an after-action report (hereinafter
John F. Lehman "AAR") regarding NORAD's response to the hijackings on 9/11. I
understand that this issue has been the subject of numerous telephone and
Timothy J. Roemer
email discussions between our respective staffs, dating back to at least last
James R. Thompson September. The purpose of this letter is twofold: first, to review the record
and reassert the Commission's request for AARs related to NORAD's
response on 9/11; and second, to seek DoD's written clarification as to where
Philip D. Zelikow
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR we stand with respect to this issue.
Of course, as DoD Document Request No. 1 makes clear, the request covers
AARs related to NORAD's performance on 9/11 even if they were produced
elsewhere in DoD.
In order to clarify DoD's position with respect to this matter, we request that,
if DoD believes it has produced all documents that constitute the AAR(s)
related to NORAD's response on 9/11, it provide the Commission with a list
of such documents. If there are no documents within DoD responsive to this
request, please state so in writing. If there are documents responsive to this
request that have not yet been produced to the Commission, please provide
such documents and an explanation as to why they have not previously been
produced.
In light of our upcoming visit to Colorado (currently scheduled for March 2),
we look forward to hearing from you by February 26, 2004. Thank you for
your cooperation.
Sincerely yours,
aniel Marcus
General Counsel
Dear Dan:
The scope of the request you quote in your letter is extremely broad: "all
documents that summarize, analyze, evaluate or discuss NORAD's response to the
events of 9/11." This could encompass a massive amount of material that the
Commission clearly does not want, such as articles in various publications of the
Department of Defense including newspapers published at military installations around
the world.
We have, therefore, interpreted this request to seek documents that could fairly
be called reports in military parlance. That means a document prepared by a member
of an organization intended for a higher level of command or supervision describing
events on September 11 and including some form of conclusion or recommendation.
We have listed documents we consider responsive to this request on the index
delivered to you every week with our document deliveries.
I hope this information resolves the issue for the Commission and its staff. If you
have questions, please call me at 703-695-6804.
Stewart F. Aly
Associate Deputy General Counsel
(Legal Counsel)
Atch: As stated
o
j-2004 18=05 ODGCLC
16 March 2004
FROM: NORAD-USNORTHCOM/JA
250 VANDENBERG STREET, SUITE B01$
PETERSON AFB CO 80914.3809
2. I note that the request can be fairly read to solicit two different categories of documents.
a. On the one hand, the second paragraph of Mr. Marcus's letter refers to reports from the Air
Force, Navy and NMCC in stating that no "similar report related specifically to NORAD's
performance on 9/11" has been produced. .This implies that tbe Commission is seeking a single
document that could be described as the NORAD after action report on the events of September
11,2001.
b. On the other hand, the email quoted later in that same paragraph states that the Commission
. is "seeing from NORAD ALL documents that could be fairly characterized as an after action
!'. report" [sic]. This statement and the remainder of the paragraph, imply that there may be many
responsive documents, not just one NORAD report.
3. I have conducted a reasonable inquiry into the existence of documents at NORAD that would
be responsive to the requests described in this letter. While NORAD did not produce what
would be traditionally classified as one final and comprehensive After Action Report, it did
produce a series of after-action report* that document 9/11 lessons learned These documents
have been provided to the Commission.
.0-2004 13=05 ODGCLC P. 04
4 I have Prepared this totter on the understanding Art it will be provided to Mr. Marcus as,
attachment to the Defense Department's reply to his letter,
TOTflL P.04