The First 109 Minutes: 9/11 and the U.S. Air Force

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had a profound impact on the nations economy and governmental organization on its budgets for national defense and on the mission of its armed forces, particularly the U.S. Air Force. Even the date--911--quickly became iconic, and without the hijackings, the first three major U.S. military operations of the new century would not have been launched Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The U.S. Air Force has played an important role in all three. The 911 attacks precipitated the launch of Operation Noble Eagle and obliged the U.S. Air Force to deploy forces to protect the continental United States, Alaska, Canada, Hawaii, and Guam against additional air attacks. The nature, timing, and effectiveness of the air defense response initiated by the Northeast Air Defense Sector on the morning of September 11 depended on many factors. Several were partly or entirely outside the control of the U.S. Air Force, such as the speed of the attacks and the tactics of the hijackers the knowledge, experience, intuition, and initiative of Federal Aviation Administration FAA personnel and the involvement and actions of those higher up the civilian chain of command. But the air defense response depended perhaps most on the effectiveness of the communications, coordination, and interaction within and between the FAA on the one hand and NORAD and NEADS on the other.