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,
Histor ian's Re p or t f or Se p t. 1 1 , 2001, By TSgt Br u ce Vittne r
Tuesday, September 1 1 , 2001 , started as almost every day at the 1 02
Fi ghter Wi ng at Oti s Ai r Nati onal Guard Base, Massachusetts. Wi ng commander,
Col. Donald Quennevi lle w as holdi ng hi s morni ng staff meeti ng at 8: 00 a.m.
Meanw hi le at theOperati ons Bui ldi ng, aphone call camei n fromthe
tow er toTSgt. Margi e Woody at 8: 38sayi ng that theFAA i n Boston had called
for thetelephone number for N t " A r 5'S ' ( North East Ai r Defense Sector located i n
Rome, New York) because therew as apossi ble hi jacki ng taki ng place. Oneof the
alert pi lots on duty that morni ng heard thew ords "possi ble hi jacki ng" and sai d to
H
'" hi s fellow alert pi lot, Maj. DanNash that they should sui t upi mmedi ately. Thi s
took themthreemi nutes andthenthey headed for theai rcraft at thealert barn, sti ll
not know i ng i f anythi ng w as really happeni ng.
Sergeant Woody patched thecall fromthetow er through to Tech. Sgt
Mi chael Kelly, thefull- ti me techni ci an i ntheCommand- Post, w hosej obthat
morni ng w as to handle all emergency calls. "I gavetheNEADS number to the
FAA i nBoston and also calledNEADS w i th thi s i nformati on about apossi ble
hi jacki ng," sai dKelly.' "
1 2 '. -~f; ----- At 8: 41 Kelly hi t thehorn to alert everyone to go to hi s or her Battle
~ " , Stati ons after conferri ng w i th Lt Col J on Treacy w ho w as theSupervi sor of
~ , Flyi ng that day. '
/ (J Thehorn w ent off asMaj. Nash andtheother alert pi lot, Lt. Col. Ti mothy
Duffy, w erei nthetruck headi ng for thealert ai rcraft. Maj. Nash w as scheduled to
betheleadpi lot on any scramblethat day but Colonel Duffy, w ho i s a!radi ti onal
Guardsman anda pi lot for amajor ai rli ne, sai d that hehad been i nvolved w i th a
scrambletoi ntercept ahi jacki ng about seven years before. Maj . Nash told hi mto
taketheleadposi ti on asthey boarded thei r ai rcraft. '
At 8: 46 NEADS i nformed theCommand Post at Oti s to scramble thealert
ai rcraft for ani ntercept of ahi jacked ai rcraft. Thetw o alert pi lots w ere fastened
i nto thei r F- 1 5'ai rcraft andtook off at 8: 52onRunw ay number 5that i s closest' to
thealert barn. At thi s ti methey w ereunder thecontrol ofNEADS and gi ven a
headi ng and alti tude to fly to New York Ci ty. Thelead ai rcraft took off and the
second took off 1 5seconds later, both on full after- burners, then they flew abreast
at supersoni cspeed tow ards New York Ci ty.
Whi leflyi ng tow ards New York they w eretold by NEADS that asecond
planehadjust hi t theWorld TradeTow ers. "Wew ereabout60 mi les aw ay and
could seetheburni ng because thevi si bi li ty w as unli mi ted that day," sai d thelead
pi lot.
Thenormal trai ni ng areafor thepi lots at Oti s i s "Whi skey 1 OS," anarea
over theAtlanti cOcean that i s south of Martha's Vi neyard andextends almost all
thew ay toNew York Ci ty. NEADS toldthepi lots to fly aholdi ng pattern over
thesouthw estern endof thi s trai ni ng areaasthey tri ed to determi ne thenext
tacti c. '..'
At 9: 1 0 NEADS told thetw o pi lots that they had taken over theenti re ai rspace
near New York Ci ty and toset upacombat ai r patrol around Manhattan. Thei r j ob
w as toi denti fy and di vert all ai rcraft fromthearea. "Maj. Nash andI i denti fi ed
7
1 / : 9
e:
~~
8
and di verted over 1 00 ai rcraft duri ng the next four hours that w e w ere there," sai d
the pi lot. "We w ould pull up next to them and ti p our w i ngs or fly across i n front
of them to get them to leave the area," he sai d. Most of the ai rcraft w ere local and
state poli ce and rescue heli copters.
"We w ere i nformed by NEADS at 9: 30 that w e mi ght be told to shoot
dow n acommerci al ai rcraft i fi t w as determi ned that i t w as hi jacked, and w ere
asked i f w e had aproblem w i th that order," remembered the pi lot. "I sai d 'no,'
because I had seen the destructi on," he sai d. The pi lot w as flyi ng over the North
Tow er at about 6,000 feet w hen i t i mploded. "I could not beli eve i t, i t just made
me si ck know i ng the extent of the damage and li ves lost," he sai d. The plume of
debri s after the collapse "looked li ke avolcani c ash as i t blew tow ardsNew
J ersey."
Maj. Nashi s a full- ti me pi lot at the 1 02ndFi ghter Wi ng. He has been a
pi lot si nce 1 990 and joi ned the 1 02nd i n May 2000. He w as the scheduli ng offi cer
that day and knew that theTOznd w as goi ng to have aKC- 1 35 ai rcraft from
Bangor, Mai ne avai lable to them duri ng thei r normal trai ni ng day for the 6 F- 1 5s
that w ould be flyi ng i n Whi skey 1 05"He di verted that tanker to fly over the area
around Kennedy Ai rport, and that i s w here the tw o scrambled ai rcraft refueled i n
the ai r duri ng thei r four and one- half hours of combat patrols. "I had never been
on ahi jack scramble before and deferred the lead to my fellow alert pi lot," sai d
Nash. "I couldn't beli eve i t w hen w e got to Manhattan. I thought i t w as the start
ofa w ar. We couldn't fly through all the debri s, w e had to go around i t as w e
i ntercepted all the ai rcraft sti ll i n the area," he commented.
"There w ere si x F- 1 5s from Oti s that w ere goi ng to trai n at Whi skey 1 05
that morni ng. They w ere si tti ng on anearby runw ay w ai ti ng to take off w hen thi s
w hole process of ascramble began. They i dled thei r engi nes and w ai ted w hi le the
tw o alert pi lots w ere scrambled and took off. They took off after the scrambled
ai rcraft took off and w ere over Martha's Vi neyard w hen they recei ved the call
from LTC. Treacy "to return i mmedi ately to Oti s."
"I w asn't too concerned w hen I saw the scrambled ai rcraft take off," sai d
Maj. Marti n Ri chard, atradi ti onal Guardsman and pi lot w i th the 1 02nd w ho fli es
commerci ally for Uni ted Ai rli nes. "We see many scrambles duri ng the year, and
most all arejust ai rcraft or vessels that can't be i denti fi ed but are fri endly. But
w hen i t came over the radi o that i t w as apossi ble hi jacki ng, i t sure got our
attenti on. When the FAA announced that the World Trade Tow er had been struck
by an ai rcraft, I asked i f thi s w as w hy the alert pi lots had been scrambled, but got
no reply; " sai d Ri chard. The trai ni ng ai rcraft had no ordi nance on them, and thus
w ere not of much use as adeterrent i n that confi gurati on. When these si x ai rcraft
landed back at Oti s the pi lots w ere told to stay near the ai rcraft. The planes w ere
then loaded w i th 940 rounds of20 mm. bullets and refueled.
Tw o ofthe si x ai rcraft had mechani cal problems and w ere not able to fly.
The four remai ni ng ai rcraft w ere refueled and ari ned. "Normally i t takes about 45
mi nutes to 'turn around' an ai rcraft, but the guys di d i t i n 20 mi nutes," sai d
Ri chard. He used a few mi nutes of that ti me to run i nto the operati ons bui ldi ng
and call hi s w i fe to tell her he w as all ri ght, but di dn't know w hen he w ould be
9
home. "My feeli ngs w ereof trepi dati on. I di dn't know w hat w as goi ng onand
di dn't know w hat thetw o scrambled ai rcraft w eredoi ng," Ri chard sai d.
When themai ntenance squadron heard thecall to scramble, they i mmedi ately
called for muni ti ons flow andstarted to repai r andgenerate thenon- mi ssi on
capable ai rcraft. Operati ons along w i th Mai ntenance di d asurvey of w hi ch
ai rcraft had bullets loaded andpri ori ti zed those ai rcraft tobefi rst onstatus. They
i mmedi ately began topre- posi ti on w i ng tanks toi ncrease range for futurefli ghts.
Muni ti ons started flow i ng at 9: 30 andtheai rcraft w ereloaded w i th ami x of
di fferent types of w eapons. "As soon asthecri si s w as i denti fi ed, mechani cs that
w ereon- stati on at theti meseamlessly changed di recti on to dothei r w arti me
taski ng of generati ng jets w i thout any confusi on," sai d Maj. Vi rgi ni a Doonan,
mai ntenance offi cer. Operati ons andMai ntenance w orked extremely w ell together
sothat communi cati on w as strong i nboth di recti ons tomaxi mi ze theeffort. Our
trai ni ng duri ng OREs etc. certai nly helped us dothebest job possi ble," shesai d.
Thefour ai rcraft w ereordered to scramble andfly combat ai r patrols
around Boston. Tw o of us i ntercepted aC- 1 30 about 1 50 mi les over theAtlanti c
that w as headi ng for Westover Ai r Base. Theother tw o i ntercepted four A- 1 Os
andaKC- l 0 tanker comi ng back fromtheAzores. NEADS told thetanker to
spend therest of theday w i th us for refueli ng andtw o of us w ere told to go to
New York Ci ty tow ork w i th, andthen reli eve thefi rst tw o scrambled pi lots,"
Ri chard sai d.
Everythi ng that moved had tobei denti fi ed. Many of theai rcraft over New
York Ci ty w erenow theretoprovi de reli ef andai dandw ere allow ed to fly, but
they sti ll needed tobei denti fi ed. It seemed li kew ew ereupi ntheai r for about 45
mi nutes w hen i t w as i n actuali ty over si x hours," recalled Ri chard afterw ards.
"When w ew ere flyi ng toNew York NEADS toldus that our mi ssi on w as to
i ntercept, di vert, or i f unsuccessful i nthoseto call themfor authori zati on to shoot
dow n. That certai nly got our attenti on," hesai d. After returni ng to Oti s at 6: 00
p.m., Ri chard andhi s partner, Maj. Robert Martyn, w ere debri efed by i ntelli gence
and sent home. "Dri vi ng toOti s thenext morni ng felt li kei t w as that w ar- ti me
feeli ng li kew ehad i n Saudi Arabi a,' recalled Ri chard w ho descri bed thefallen
tow ers as looki ng li keagi ant pi leof Li ncoln Logs fromthe ai r.
Thetw o ai rcraft that hadmai ntenance problems that morni ng w ere fi xed,
andthepi lots flew toNew York Ci ty toreli eve Ri chard andhi s partner, Maj.
Robert Martyn, andconti nue thecombat ai r patrols over thearea.
When thehorn w ent off to haveeveryone report to Battle Stati ons, Col.
Quennevi lle rushed to theCommand Post and summoned theBattle Staff. All of
thegroup commanders w eretherealong w i th theSurvi val Recovery Command
( SRC) led by Maj. Davi d BascomandCapt. Bi ll Dyer. The SRC also i ncluded
Publi cAffai rs, Securi ty Poli ce, Ci vi l Engi neeri ng, andtheFi reDepartment.
Televi si on played amajor rolei nprovi di ng i nformati on. CNN w as
show i ng thefi rst tow er of theWorld Trade Center on fi re, andmany people i nthe
Operati ons Bui ldi ng andi ntheCommand Post w erew atchi ng as thesecond
ai rcraft flew i nto thesecond tow er. Maj. Scott Hoyt, api lot for the l02nd andw ho
hadprevi ously flow n ascommerci al pi lot, told everyone that thecrash w as
deli berate and couldn't havebeen doneby the ai rli ne's pi lot.
1 0
Chi ef Master Sgt. J ohn Si lva, Securi ty Forces Squadron superi ntendent,
w ho had been atthe staff meeti ng, i mmedi ately i mplemented therecall plan and
w i thi n fi vehours over 40 securi ty poli ce offi cers w ere at Oti s provi di ng peri meter
securi ty for themi li tary i nstallati on ona24- hour basi s. "Onepoli ce offi cer drove
fromFlori da andanother left fromRochester, N.Y. andw as herei n four hours,"
sai d Chi ef Si lva.
Lt. Col. Maggi e Quennevi lle, communi ty relati ons offi cer, and Cli ff
MacDonald, publi caffai rs speci ali st, w erealso very busy that morni ng and for the
next threew eeks. "I saw thetow ers onfi reandw ent totheCommand Post. We
w eretold by NORAD ( North Ameri can Defense Command i n Colorado Spri ngs,
Col.) that w ecouldn't gi veout any i nformati on, i ncludi ng thefact that w ew ere
theuni t that w as scrambled. 'Sorry w ecan't gi veout any operati onal i nformati on'
w as theli nethat w ehad touseover andover tonetw orks andtelevi si on stati ons
andnew spapers all over thew orld," sai dLt. Col. Quennevi lle. Thi s w as the
offi ci al li nealthough televi si on stati ons andnew spapers w erereporti ng that i t w as
theF- 1 5s fromOti s that w erescrambled even later thesameday as theevent
happened. It w as about ten days afterSeptember 1 1 that NORAD allow ed the
facts to bemadepubli c. They set upi ntervi ew s andfi lmi ng for CNN at Oti s that
w as shot over aperi od of threedays toshow how theuni t w as flyi ng combat
patrols andthat theski es w eresafefor thepubli cto fly. Soon after all threemajor
netw orks cameto Oti s for i ntervi ew s, andDi aneSaw yer of Good Mor ning
Ame r ica onABC w as gi ven afli ght i nanF- 1 5. "Maggi e andI w ere taki ng calls
fromall over thew orld: WehadtheCap e Cod Time s, Ne w Yor k Time s, Los
Ange le s Time s; aLondon new spaper, andaRussi an new spaper all calli ng at the
sameti me," sai d Cli ff MacDonald w ho w orked rotati ng 1 2- hOurshi fts w i th Lt.
Col. Quennevi lle for almost amonth.
Wi ng commander, Col. Donald Quennevi lle spoketo all members of the
1 02
nd
at acommander's call onSeptember 1 5and addressed theuni t i nhi s
commander's column i ntheOctINov i ssueofthe Se agu ll. Hi s comments, "I have
terri blememori es of that tragi cday, but I alsohave speci al oflesas commander of
thi sw i ng. Wesw i tched fromour uni t's peaceti me posture i nto thenati on's fi rst
li neof Homeland Defense. That morni ng w hi le our ai rcraft w ereflyi ng around
Manhattan, theseni or leaders w eredevelopi ng acomprehensi ve plan to ready our
uni t for w ar agai nst anunknow n assai lant. Logi sti cs personnel began the
systemati ctransformati on of our ai rcraft fromtrai ni ng confi gurati on to onefi tti ng
for combat. They provi ded aramp full of mi ssi on capable, combat- confi gured
ai rcraft. Thi s effort approached therealmofthe superhuman. Conti nuous combat
ai r patrols w ereflow n for thenext several days i nresponse toNORAD taski ng.
Securi ty, w i th 90 percent of thetradi ti onal guardsmen reporti ng w i thi n 24 hours,
qui ckly establi shed theForce Generati onArea andarobust forceprotecti on
posture. Servi ces personnel provi ded four meals aday and evenbrought meals to
thoseunable to get to thedi ni nghall. Most all personnel w ent on 1 2- hour days,
andw herever i t w as needed, avolunteer w ould appear tohandle thesi tuati on.
Ni ghts, w eekends, scheduled days off di dnot matter asthededi cated members of
thi s w i ng all pi tched i n. I w i ll alw ays remember thestellar manner i nw hi ch the
men andw omen of the l02d answ ered thecall to duty. You di dus proud.