JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Most people can still vividly remember where they were 10 years ago on Sept. 11, 2001. The twin towers of the World Trade Center came crashing down, the Pentagon was struck and courageous citizens stood up to foil the plans of terrorists on a plane that went down in Pennsylvania. Here at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, operations went into overdrive; from security forces locking down the base to F-16s scrambling to start combat air patrols. The following are a few first-hand recollections from JBLE personnel who were stationed elsewhere on that fateful day.
1st Lt. Alexander Kats, 633rd Medical Operations Squadron
I was on active duty for exactly one year on Sept 11. I was a one striper working on a bone-marrow transplant unit as a medical technician. I remember being called into a room by a patient who proceeded to tell me that the twin towers were on fire. Being from New York, with parents who work in Manhattan, I took a keen interest in this and began to watch the news incessantly.
When the second tower got hit, I knew it was a terrorist attack and my heart sank; partly because I knew some folks who work at the trade center, and partly because my dad works a few blocks away from that center.
I remember trying to reach my parents with a certain feeling of neuroticism since they both worked in Manhattan, although my mom worked more in upper Manhattan as opposed to my dad. I remember not being able to reach them for a long time since the phones were completely out. I did reach them later that night eventually; only to find out they walked all the way home in Brooklyn from their work place, which was not an easy feat, even for me.
I remember feelings of loss, sadness and anger as I watched the news day and night for updates on survivors, clean up, and hunt for those responsible. After my shock stage, I remember being ready to stand up and answer my nation's call to war, I was 110% committed to my service, to deploy and to show other nations that we are ready to respond to those who dare commit this kind of atrocity.
As an Air Force officer today, I want to say that I am here in big part because of that one event that shook our foundations and became the centerpiece of many lives serving in our military today.
Christina Huger
On Sept. 11, I was in the last week of Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Oh, how excited my squad was. We were almost done, and had just a few days left. My squad was scheduled to give blood that morning, so our Military Training Instructor dropped us off at the blood-mobile for a few hours to accomplish this.
The blood-mobile had cookies, juice, and a television. Although the TV had no sound, it was still nice to finally get to watch it. As I watched the TV, there was a sudden commotion about a plane hitting a building. There was some chatter amongst us, but we didn't think much of it - only, that is was sad news. After all, we had no volume, just video.
I decided to go outside to take in some of the Texas heat, especially since I wasn't able to donate blood due to low iron, and it was very cold in the bus. While outside, another trainee told me that another plane flew into a building. I thought, "Wow, this can't be. Two plane crashes in one day -- what a freak accident."
Shortly thereafter, our MTI returned and we continued the rest of our day, completing a multitude of tasks. In BMT, we were oblivious to what took place in the "real world." The next day, while we were marching around base, our MTI was received instructions to take us back to our dorm. We arrived to find our sister squad standing under the overhang of our dorm building. I thought, "What in the world could be going on?" Suddenly, our squadron superintendent, who was easily the most feared man to our trainees, began speaking to us.
"Yesterday, our country was attacked. This is a serious situation," he said. "Across the world, all military bases are on lockdown. We are in a time of crisis."
"Last night while laying in bed, my wife asked me, if they called me to war would I go," he continued. He paused for about 10 seconds, and a lone tear ran down his cheek. "I turned to her and I said 'Yes.'"
We were all given time to call our family and tell them that they could not come see us graduate that Friday.
I will never forget this moment. For the first time, I realized why I joined the military. It wasn't for a free education and a paycheck. I joined because it was in my blood to help protect our nation. At the tender age of 1,8 I realized my duty, commitment, and loyalty to this country. My parents served. My grandfathers, uncles and aunts, and brother served. Now it was my turn.
My squad was one of the first to graduate in battle dress uniform. It was no longer a time of peace, but a time of crisis.
Chief Master Sgt. Cheryl Gordon, Air Combat Command
I was stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska at the time. I was getting ready for work as the planes hit. The trees were turning and hunting season was underway, so lots of folks were "off the grid." I remember helicopters flying up and down river beds looking for personnel, in order to take accountability. More than anything else, I remember anger - the people at the base were genuinely angry.
There was a sense of frustration which stemmed from being so geographically disconnected from the events. It was as if we were in an entirely different country. 100 percent ID checks began at the gate - gone were the days when stickers got you waved through. Barriers appeared, forming the now familiar snake-like curve we drive through daily.
It was 39 degrees that day, but around 15-20 below zero by the following month. We were precluded from parking near all facilities on base, where the Heat-Bolt, or HBO, units were located. Instead, we were relegated to snow-covered fields. Engine blocks began freezing, since we weren't close enough to plug our vehicles into HBOs. F-16s and A-10s launched hard -- we knew we'd be in Afghanistan soon. The Alaska Air National Guard's R-models formed the air bridge to get us there.
John Lent, 480th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Wing
I was on active duty at the time, but not serving in an operational capacity. I was a student attending Senior Service School at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. The school is part of the National Defense University at Fort McNair -- right across the river from the Pentagon. After this tragedy, we were known as the "9/11 Class."
We were in our Military Studies course, and after we received news of the initial attacks in New York, our instructor, Col. Tom Watson, transitioned our class from theory into the real-world. To maintain our focus, he had us analyzing events and information. He worked this as if we were on an actual senior military staff to determine what we knew, what we didn't know, making assessments, developing conclusions and providing possible courses of action. He used this terrible event to prepare us for the realities we would face as senior military leaders. He told us that we face a lot of unknowns and emphasized that this is the environment we may find ourselves operating from as a strategic leader. That day, I was very proud I served in the Air Force with such a fine Airman as Tom Watson.
I remember being concerned that I couldn't contact my family that day to tell them I was okay. After the Pentagon attack, Washington, D.C. was in turmoil, as everyone was trying to leave the city at the same time. I stayed at ICAF until 2 p.m., and was finally able to contact my family early that afternoon. I lived on Andrews Air Force Base, and what was normally a 60-minute drive from NDU took 15 minutes. There was no traffic on Suitland Parkway that afternoon. When I got to Andrews, it took more than 90 minutes to get to my house from the main gate. I had to go through three sentry posts set up along the roads at the base. I remember the grim, determined faces of those Airmen that day.
Before attending school, I was assigned to the Air Staff and had a number of friends and colleagues working in the Pentagon. From the television pictures, I couldn't tell what side of the Pentagon was hit, and I recall the anxiety I felt not knowing the status of my fellow Airmen. It took me two days to get a call to Lt. Col. Don Grieman, who relayed that everyone on our staff was accounted for and okay. I was very relieved.
My brother was a Navy photo officer at the time, and I later learned from him that once the area was secured, he and his team had to go in to the Navy Command Center to take pictures of the facility. He told me about our Navy colleagues who were burned to death standing in front of a TV watching events as they unfolded in New York. I could only imagine the horror, and was saddened by this loss in our military family. My wife later served on a spouses' committee that designed and advocated for the Virginia license plate honoring the people lost in the Pentagon. She still has that plate on her car today.
The day after Sept. 11, we didn't have classes. I went to the hospital at Andrews for a follow-up appointment and I couldn't help notice the caring, as Americans, for our fellow citizens, even if they were complete strangers. This was coupled with sadness and a quiet determination to help where we could. When I returned to school, there were a number of us, whether we were Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen or Marines, who wanted to return to an operational unit and support the fight we knew was coming.
I'm still emotional about it. I had the honor of serving seven additional years in our Air Force in an overseas assignment with NATO engaged in ISAF operations, as a combat communications group commander, and finally on the Air Combat Command staff. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Lt. Col. Steve Lloyd, Air Land Sea Application Center
I was an F-15E Formal Training Unit Instructor at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. We were preparing for a student sortie, and I went to get the weather report from the operations desk. I saw the news on television with words about a "small plane" that had hit the World Trade Center. As I spoke to our senior airman at the desk, we saw the plane hit the second tower and wondered what was going on.
I told my instructor counterpart and soon every TV in the 334th Fighter Squadron was on. Our director of operations came down to the desk about 15 minutes later and told us the Pentagon had also been hit, and we cancelled flying immediately. It was too bad, because as we all remember, it was a perfect day for flying.
Things around the base began to get quiet, and words of locking down the base began to surface. This was an issue with me as my wife and children were at the gym for aerobics. I contacted her and recommended she leave the base before she was stuck there. We at the squadron remained on base, and began to elevate our vigilance against any possible attacks from within the perimeter, since nobody really knew who was behind all this or how far it reached.
After a few hours, I recommended that my wife take the kids to her parents house about two hours away, so they would be farther from the base should bad things happen in the local area. Once I made it home later that evening, I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV to watch the whole ordeal unfold. After a few days when they released the names of the folks on the American Airlines flight, I found out a friend I went through flight school with was aboard the plane. It was pretty surreal. The other thing that sticks in my mind was how quiet it was with no aircraft flying once the Federal Aviation Administration grounded them.
2nd Lt. Rashid Lamb, 1st Operations Support Squadron
I was at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. -- a staff sergeant then. I was working swing shifts, so my day was just beginning. My morning routine consisted of PT, breakfast and surfing the internet. I had just returned from a jog when the phone rang. My friend on the other end said, "Dude, are watching the news?!" I replied something to the effect of, "No, why?"
I turned on the TV, but wasn't really floored by what happened, as the second plane had not yet impacted. When the second plane came crashing into the south tower, my jaw dropped! I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing about possible terrorist implications - this couldn't happen in the U.S.! I got recalled about a half hour later, and sat in traffic at the gate for about two hours! Once I got to work, I worked another 13 hours on top of that, providing flight weather briefings for combat air patrol missions.
Mark Kuhn, Air Combat Command
I was still on active duty as a major working for Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The second week of September 2001, I was on TDY to Washington D.C. The meetings I attended were moved from the Pentagon to a contractor's office just across the river in Crystal City.
The morning of Sept. 11, we were attending meetings as normal. We took a break a little before 9 a.m. and turned on a TV to see what was on. We were greeted by news that an airliner had just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. We stood, mouths open in disbelief, as the news slowly fought its way into my consciousness. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Mesmerized by the shock, the group of us stayed glued to the TV in bewilderment. Then, on live TV, we were bombarded with images of another airliner crashing into the remaining tower. Every cell of my brain strained, trying to understand what my brain said was incomprehensible.
We walked as a group outside to get some air and try and make sense of what had just happened. Tears were in our eyes as we realized the horror. We stood looking at the lovely view across to the north. As we stood there, we saw a large cloud of smoke rise from across the river. Just then, someone ran out and told us an aircraft had crashed into the Pentagon.
When I think of that day it is as remembering a dream instead of actual events. I spent the next 24 hours trying to get hold of my family to let them know I was okay. I had not told my wife that the meeting was moved from the Pentagon to Crystal City. It did not seem important at the time, but it left my wife and children frantic, worrying about whether I was okay. With no flights out of D.C. for an unknown timeline, I found a rental car and drove straight through to Albuquerque so I could get back to my loved ones.
Of 29 years in uniform, including combat flights during Operation Desert Storm, that singular event of 9/11 had the most lasting impact on my life and thoughts. The memories of that day still bring me a mix of sadness and anger, but also a resolute determination to do make the best of life and spend every day as if it is the last with my loved ones.
Master Sgt. Jose Gonzalez Jr., 633rd Logistics Readiness Squadron
I was stationed at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington, D.C., where I worked at the vehicle maintenance facility. I was training two 3-level technicians on how to pull apart a steering column on a Chevrolet six-passenger truck, which happened to be the command and control vehicle. All personnel were called upstairs to the break room to watch the news unfolding from New York City.
While watching TV with the rest of the shop we heard a huge explosion from outside. We ran outside and saw a large black cloud rising from across the Potomac River -- the Pentagon had been hit. Alarms started to ring and we went into "crisis mode." I buttoned up the C2 vehicle as fast as possible. My training must have kicked in, because it was all a blur. We were at work for two days straight before I went home. The base and surrounding area was at a standstill. With 12-hour shifts for two weeks after that, the days started rolling into each other.
I came to Langley in 2002, and deployed every other year after that. It gave me a sense of connection between what happened and what I was doing.
Master Sgt. Michael Rogers, Air Combat Command
On Sept. 11, I was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., in the 55th Mobile Command and Control Squadron. My unit was "deployed" to an exercise location in western Nebraska. I was on a routine maintenance call in one of the semi-trailers that made up the mobile command center. One of the controllers said over his shoulder, "A plane hit the World Trade Center." Everyone in the trailer thought it was an exercise inject, and no one seemed too concerned. I asked, "What, like a Cessna clipped an antenna?" The controller said, "I don't have any specifics."
He then clarified to everyone in the trailer it was a real world incident.
I went back to my "office," another semi-trailer full of tools, test equipment and a TV. When I walked in, I saw the first smoking tower on the screen. As we discussed if this could be an accident or not, the second plane hit.
Our unit went from exercise mode to real-world in an instant. The armory was opened, everyone received their assigned weapons and extra sentries posted. I went back out on the service call I had been on. Others continued with their assigned missions. We were definitely ready for whatever we needed to do. At one point, we were told by leadership that President Bush was coming to our site by helicopter. I am certain if anything else had been hit, my unit would have become the means of running the "shadow government" the news talked about.
Our squadron motto was, "The Last Resort," with a mushroom cloud behind a semi-truck... and it almost was. The unit has since been stood down and dismantled. A lot of us are still friends and keep contact on Facebook.
Ronald Duquette, 633rd Force Support Squadron
That day has been etched in my memory and the memory of our nation, just like the bombing of Pearl Harbor was for those who were there. I was on active duty, stationed at Hurlburt Field, Fla. I was in charge of all satellite broadcasts, and I had two televisions in the building that we were able to tune into CNN.
That particular day, one of the education counselors asked me, in a very soft voice, if see could watch the news on the TV. Of course I said yes, not knowing what was going on. I never heard her voice sound like that. It wasn't until I returned to my room that I saw one of the towers on fire and something like a plane crash on the news. Shortly afterward, another plane crashed into the other tower, and I knew then that it was an attack on the U.S. The counselor told me that her brother worked in the towers, and she could not get in touch with him. Fortunately, he was stuck in traffic, and was not in the building when it came down. The rest of the day, my room was full of our education staff members, all shocked at what was happening.
Since I had been recently appointed as the wing and squadron unit deployment manager, I was pressed into action by my commander to active the Unit Control Center. It was a very long day that lapsed into the next day. There were numerous taskings that had to be completed and communication channels that had to be established. This event changed my entire military career, up to the day I retired.
My heart has gone out to all the brave men and women who worked to rescue the people who were trapped, and they gave their lives in the performance of their duties. Heroism can be defined by referring to this event and the brave men and women who died in the plane crash that saved hundreds, if not thousands more lives if the plane hadn't crashed in the field (in Shanksville, Penn.) Also, for the brave men and women who either died or were wounded since the war was declared.
Senior Airman Ashley Folsom-Delmonico, 1st Operations Support Squadron
Sept. 11 is a day that I, and many others, will never forget, whether they were near or far from the tragic events that took place.
I was in my first month as a freshman at Antioch High School in California. I loved listening to music more than anything else and would constantly fall asleep listening to my radio. I was awoken at around 5 a.m. (Pacific Time) to a worried voice telling a story of airplanes hitting buildings in New York. In my sleepy state, I did not think anything of it - perhaps it was all just a dream.
When I woke up at 7 a.m., I found my mother sitting on her bed, glued to the TV watching the news. I automatically found this odd, as my mom hates watching the news because she finds it depressing. To my shock, what I had heard earlier was true -- airplanes had really crashed into buildings.
When I went to school, there was so much sadness all around. People were praying for the souls in the airplanes, and others were crying because they had family that worked in the Twin Towers and were not sure if they were alright or not. My little naïve world was shattered that day. I had always thought we were in peaceful times and that nothing like that would ever happen. I did not know anyone in the Twin Towers or aboard the airplanes, but my heart went out to them and their families that day.
I cannot believe that it has been 10 years since this happened. I can remember my 14-year-old self that day like it was yesterday. I remember every class I had that day, that I had an orthodontic appointment and that I even wore a camouflage tank top to school.
Staff Sgt. Christian Hughes, Air Combat Command
On Sept. 11, I was sitting in the Military Entrance Processing Station in Sacramento, Calif., waiting to be sworn and leave to attend basic military training. Suddenly, one of the nurses at the MEPS ran in and told everyone that we were under attack. She switched on the television in the waiting area and we all sat in silence and shock as we witnessed planes hitting the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The MEPS went on lockdown, and we were all told to go home and wait for a call to return to be sworn in. Three days later, we returned to the MEPS and gathered into a room to be sworn in. Right before we were given the Oath of Enlistment, the presiding officer informed us that due to the circumstances of the attack, anyone could change their mind about serving and would not be penalized for it.
Nobody did. We all raised our right hands and were sworn in, ready to take the fight to those who had attacked our country!
Staff Sgt. Jeff Nevison, 633rd Air Base Wing
I had just moved to Beale Air Force Base, Calif., two weeks before Sept. 11. I had returned to work after my 10-day house-hunting leave, and was on my second day of training at a new job, a special duty assignment. I didn't even have a chance to learn that job, as I left for a deployment to the United Arab Emirates shortly thereafter. I had only gotten married four months before that, too. I wound up having to learn, on-the-spot, how to accomplish the mission. It was a job that offered very little margin for error!
Staff Sgt. Joshua Collins, 633rd Contracting Squadron
I was a civilian electrician working on a three-year base housing project at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. As the lead electrician, I noticed my workers were acting strange and starting to pack up their stuff. I asked them what they were doing, and where they were going. The head contractor told me that we were under some sort of attack, and that we needed to get off base as soon as possible. We packed up and left, and since I had no radio in the company truck, I wondered what was going on. When I returned to my shop, I found everyone glued to the TV, just then the first tower started to crumble.
For the next two weeks, I had no work, because most of our electric company contracts were on MacDill AFB, and they were not letting anyone on base. I was starting to get worried because I wouldn't get paid unless I had work, and even started to consider getting another job until I could get back on base. It was a very depressing few weeks. Not only did I see all the people on TV crying and how their lives changed, but also felt my life changed all the way down in Tampa.
I finally got back to work on base and saw an enormous jump in security measures. All of our electric companies' work efforts went into building a trailer city next to the central command building to allow multiple country representatives to set up shop. It was strange, but we all felt very proud as civilians to work around the clock to play our part in the military effort. While we worked on powering up each of the trailers, military personnel from around the world raised flags for the nation they represented. It was a moment in my life that I'll never forget.
A couple years later, the electric company laid me off. As I looked for more work, I walked into the Air Force recruiter's office in Tampa and never looked back. I am very proud to be in the Air Force now, and I look forward to explaining this to my children one day when they can better understand.
Staff Sgt. Schuka Hartsfield, Air Combat Command
I was stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. It was 6 a.m., and I'd just ended a 12-hour shift. I was a 5-level F-16 weapons load crewman. Twelve F-16 Fighting Falcons needed to be loaded with 512 mm rounds, Cap-9 missiles and Mk-84 500-pound dumb bombs. When I left work at 7 a.m., six aircraft needed rounds and missiles, and, as usual, if you're not AMMO, you're waiting on them.
After a shower and no breakfast, I laid in my bed, drifting off to sleep. I was awakened about an hour later to a phone call from my mother asking me if I was alright. I promptly told her that I was sleeping. She then told me to turn on the television. I did so, and watched for about six minutes. I sat by the phone and waited for instructions. During the next several months, I supported Operation Noble Eagle and enduring missions over New Mexico and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
Tech. Sgt. Kristy Price, 192nd Fighter Wing
I was on active duty stationed at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., as a missile chief on Sept. 11. I awoke that morning to watch the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. Immediately, phones started ringing and a recall was initiated. We were told to report to base by 3 p.m. to pack boxed meals to send to New York City as relief supplies. This was an all-hands affair. I decided to drive to the base at 2 p.m., as I only lived about 15 minutes away and thought that I could grab a bite to eat before it got too crazy.
Boy, did I underestimate my timing. I sat in line to get onto Minot for more than eight hours! I was trapped without food or water and had no place to turn around. The medians were too deep to drive across. No one knew what was going on or what to do. The car in front of me had a pregnant woman in it who went into labor. The ambulance got to her and took her downtown instead of on base. My thought was, if they could reach us, we should be able to follow them. That idea disappeared when the police shut down the additional lanes. I finally entered the base at 11 p.m., terribly late. However, we were still able to package 2,500 boxed meals to send for support. I was up for 72 hours, and could have stayed up longer knowing that our efforts mattered.
I will never forget that day, as I also received my orders to Langley AFB, Va., the same day.
Tech. Sgt. Nancy Walker, 633rd Force Support Squadron
On Sept. 11, I was a cryptologic instructor at the National Security Agency at Fort George G. Meade, Md. As I was teaching a class, one of my students said that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center. We turned the TV on in the classroom and watched in horror as the second plane crashed into the towers. We were evacuated immediately.
Tech. Sgt. Trevor Mitchell, 633rd Logistics Readiness Squadron
I was taking my 7-level test when the first plane crashed. Five hours later, I led a convoy with hospital supplies and personnel to McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. While at McGuire, I aided Federal Emergency Management Agency and Red Cross relief efforts.
Yvette L. Armour, 633rd Medical Group
I was in Colorado on my way to work, and my daughter was in Texas. She called me and asked, "Mom, did you see the airplane hit the towers?" I asked, "What towers?" to which she replied, "The towers in New York."
I was shocked and did not know the gravity of what had happened until I got to work and saw it on TV. The whole office was in shock. No one was moving or making a sound, as we were all in awe of what we were seeing. I watched at the news and saw what I thought was paper falling out of the windows. It wasn't paper, but human bodies. I gasped, cried, and could only think at that moment of the souls that were lost, gone for no reason. My heart sank.
It was the most unbelievable thing I had ever seen on TV and it was in real time. Our office remained motionless for most of the day, but after a while the supervisors and employees began to pull ourselves together. We got back to work, but it was the most awful day I had ever experienced. I do not remember too much after that, but I do know we took every call that came through, and we served our customers as best we could.
It grips me even now.