Transcripts For CSPAN3 Oral Histories 20160911 : comparemela

Back home that early that saturday. Join the cspan conversation like us on facebook, follow us on twitter. So the commanders had given the vast ma yortjority of the fulltime force, which was really not that many folks at the time, a pass for monday to be able to reconnect with their families. So tuesday was really the first time that we were kind of getting back to work. All of our traditionals who had been deployed were back off doing their normalcyville cy rilivilian jobs, so we were really just kind of planning the week. So that morning was just an average morning, getting up, eating my cheerios, driving in to work. It was really just very normal. At about a quarter to 9 00 when the first reports came of a plane hitting the first of the two World Trade Centers, what was your reaction . I was in the middle of a longrange scheduling meeting with the other five fulltimers there at the Fighter Squadron. So we were planning out the week and really planning out the month as well, looking at what our training priorities would be, our check ride priorities, looking at our range times, transitioning the jets into a new phase of training and a new phase of flights. So we were working out the Administration Details of getting back to our training rhythm when a knock came at the door and an unlisted person opened up the door and poked their head in and said, hey, somebody flew into the World Trade Center. We all looked at each other, we looked outside the windows, and as everyone remembers, in washington, d. C. , it was a crystalline september morning. Blue skies, very clear day. It was lovely. We all kind of looked at each other really puzzled because normally the weather patterns in d. C. Are not that different from what they are in new york. And we all kind of laughed and were like, wow, what kind of bozo really porked his instrument approach going into new york . We thought it was just some small airplane, a general aviation, that really had just made a terrible mistake coming down the hudson river. So we laughed a little about it because we had no concept of the magnitude of what had actually occurred. And we really didnt understand that it wasnt a cessna 172 which, realistically, would probably dent the building, hardly cause any damage, as opposed to what it truly was. So we did not understand. So where were you when you saw the pictures of this gaping hole on the side of the World Trade Center . Well, after we got the first word, we went back to our meeting. We continued to discuss and plan out the week and the flying schedule as normal, because we did not understand or have any way to comprehend. I mean, there was no further information regarding how serious the situation was. And so it wasnt until the second aircraft struck the second World Trade Center when our unlisted folks came in and said, hey, a second plane hit the World Trade Center. It was on purpose. Then the meeting obviously immediately dissolved and we all rushed to go and actually see what was being reported on the media and go look at the television. And that was when, i think, all of us really understood at a visceral level that the world had changed. So at that time in 2001, what was your job . What were your responsibilities . I was a brand new first lieutenant. I had just gone to the Fire Squadron in january of 2001 is. I was the training manager. I was in charge of managing and tracking the combat training that we do. Its continuation training for all of our Fighter Pilots to ensure that were ready and qualified in all the different events that we need to be able to do, whether or not thats air to air dog fighting, air to air intercepts, that was part of my job to do that. So thats what we were doing during that meeting. I was also a brand new wingman, so i was still a young Fighter Pilot learning my trade. Where is andrews in connection with washington, d. C. And were you stationed there in 2001 . I was stationed in andrews. Thats where the d. C. Air National Guard is located at. So the 121st Fire Squadron is on the east side of the base, which is really only about eight nautical miles as the crow flies from the pentagon. So walk us through the morning after the second plane hit the second tower. What was happening . Who were you talking to . What was the reaction at andrews among your colleagues . There was initially there was a lot of confusion because if you can remember, you know, ten years ago, there was really there were no dispense units. The air dispense units which had been stood up and had used to populate the whole continental United States to defend our sovereign soil from the soviet bear, when the soviet union collapsed, that had been drawn down significantly throughout the 90s. So my unit which once upon a time with f105s used to sit alert in an air sovereignty mission for norad and for stare force was no longer a part of that air mission. We were designed to go to war, not necessarily to protect american soil. So as a result, our chain of command didnt go up to norad, didnt go up through the First Air Force. So when the first aircraft hit the trade centers and it was clear to norad and First Air Force that they needed to defend americas skies, they had no message to be able to reach down or even be able to know that the d. C. National guard was there in d. C. And was available. There was no Clear Authority to be able to reach down to us. So just as they couldnt reach down to us, we had no way to be able to reach up into them to get authorization to go fly. So there was a lot of confusion. As a young wing man, really kind of the most that i could do was stand there and be ready to be tasked as i watched my leadership in a very creative and ad hoc way to reach up to authority to be able to launch. How did you personally prepare prior to 9 11 . I didnt. You know, because that was not one of our doctrinal tactics, there was no way to learn to go to war. My job was to set alerts. There were no rules of engagement. I hadnt even thought about, you know, what that kind of mission might be like on american soil. Defensive counter, which is probably the closest that i had trained to is typically something thats planned for, its in the air tasking order, its something we might do to protect a base overseas but really wasnt something we had thought about regarding having to do on the good old u. S. And i had also never been trained to how do i scramble the aircraft . So i had never done a scramble start which is, to give you a little bit of perspective, when you start an f16, especially before we had gps on the aircraft, and at that time we did not have gps, we had inertia units, which took at least 18 minutes to just get the gyroscopes spinning to be able to give us a navigational platform. So it would typically take about 20 minutes to start the jets, get the avionics systems going, go through all the preflight checks to make sure the systems were operating properly, program the computers in the aircraft. Thats not even including the time to look at the forms and do the walkaround of the airplane and whatnot. So we usually planned about half an hour to 40 minutes from the time you walked out the door to the time that you actually took off. And as the new guy, i was very concerned i mean, i was going to do everything right, and i was going to do everything by the book, because attention to detail and ensuring that you execute perfectly is part of the Fighter Pilot credeed, and that was what i was learning to do. So what was demanded of us that morning was completely seat of the pants as far as i was concerned. Explain the term scramble the aircraft. A scramble start is where its specifically towards how we execute the mission now, a scramble start is where once the horn goes off, you can run to the jet, start it expeditiously and be able to get airborne within a minimum set of minutes, and thats in single digits, not even in double digits. So its a very Quick Reaction to some kind of external threat so that you have time to be able to get airborne and be able to turn that threat around before it gets towards whatever youre trying to protect. So the president of the United States is in florida, the Vice President is at the white house, the transportation secretary is ordering all planes across the country to be grounded. And another plane, a third plane, hits the pentagon. Where were you when all that happened . When it was clear that there was a threat to the d. C. Area, which we immediately assumed once that second aircraft had hit the World Trade Center why did you assume that . Because washington, d. C. Is the heart of the United States. Its the nations capitol. Its the center of the free world. So as ominous as those two aircraft hitting the World Trade Center were, it was very clear to us that it was we needed to get airborne to be able to protect washington, d. C. As i mentioned before, the challenge for us was how do we get authorization to be able to get airborne . National guard units have two separate chains of command. We have the federal chain of command, but in order for that federal chain of command which then mobilizes us into the active Duty Air Force and the narrow specific lines that go up through the active air force and the secretary of defense and then the president , you have to be mobilized to be able to make that happen. Our other chain of command, which is the standard chain of command is the state chain of command, the civilian. So we go up through the governor. Well, the d. C. Air National Guard doesnt go to the mayor of washington, d. C. , it actually goes up through the secretary of the army and ultimately to the president of the United States. So we were having to work our civilian chain of command to activate that to try and get permission to become airborne. As a young wingman, my job was to i mean, like i said, i was standing around waiting for someone to basically tell me what to do so that i could support what we were trying to be able to get airborne. So what i basically did was, i took our we had Data Transfer cartridges for the f16, and think of it like a very large floppy disk or a large thumb drive, because there are so many avionics on the aircraft, whether or not thats weapons information, navigational information, et cetera that we are able to program before we ever get to the aircraft. So we can take this data cartridge and then plug it into the jet and turn it on and download the mission profile. All that navigation information, et cetera. So what i was doing while my leadership was trying to energize the chain of command upward to try to get authorization to launch, i was basically programming the jets with the data program cartridges. Its just based on what is in the d. C. Area . Where is the capitol . Where is the National Mall . Are things critical to structure . Where are all the little airports, things like that. So thats what you were doing. Do you remember what you were thinking during that time period . So much going on. I was focused on expeditiously loading up those cartridges and then trying to free myself up so that i could then do whatever the next thing necessary was. Do you remember if you had a moment that morning to kind of absorb everything that was happening . This doesnt this sounds counterintuitive, but when the magnitude of the situation hit me, i really lost all emotion. I didnt have an emotional reaction at all. It was really much more focused on what are the things that i need to do to enable us to protect our capitol . What are the things that i need to do to facilitate us getting airborne . The most time that i had for reflection was when i finished up loading the Data Transfer cartridges, the dtcs, standing at the Office Counter and observing what leadership was doing and trying to anticipate what the next step might be so that i could be of more use. So we had Lieutenant Colonel Phil Thompson took over duties of supervisor flying previously. Dan had been resident of our supervision, but Phil Thompson took over to free raisin up so we could prepare for what we anticipated, being able to get airborne. Our wing commander, general whurley, came down and tried to get information, again trying to energize the chain of command. What is unique about our situation at andrews is that because andrews is also the home of air force i, we had established a relationship with the secret service in a near Traffic Control tower. Because when air force i moves, the secret service owns the airfield so that they can provide better protection for the president. So we had established a relationship with them in order to be able to manage the impact to our daily flying activities. And so one of the things that was going on was that dan came, called the secret service, called the guys in the tower, folks he knew by a personal relationship to say, hey, were here. We can help. Have someone tell us what to do, and have general whirley address that relationship as well. Also, in flying with the training were in, when we train, we dont train with real bombs that have explosives on them. As a matter of fact, we either train with no weapons on board and we are able to simulate the actual weapons deployment, or we train with very small, concrete projectiles which can mimic the actual fall profile of real weapons. So we realistically had nothing that we would be able to do we would take off unarmed. So the other thing that we did, which was very out of the box, but realizing the seriousness of the situation, raisin called down to the bomb dump, which is located far away from any population on the base because thats where the things that go boom live, right . So if something happens, you want that very isolated. So the guys that live down there, they got no television, they got no radio. Theyre living in a world that to them its just another beautiful, blue tuesday morning. Then they get this phone call that says, hey. I want you to build up some real missiles. What are you talking about . Do it. So raisin was energizing what he knew by anticipating what we needed to do. But that was going to take some time. Where were you and what do you remember thinking when that other plane hit the pentagon . Sickened that we werent airborne first. And it simply increased the sense of urgency for the situation. Then what happened . Well, we had had three aircraft airborne earlier that morning for a Training Mission down at dare county, which is north carolina, and it was justa very basic bombing mission, basic surface attack. They were going to do some scraping with bullets as well, and one guy had gotten down to what we call bingo gas. Its a fuel that whatever youre doing you just need to get home, because thats the fuel youll need to be able to get home. So he had been returning on his own when the towers were hit. And because he was coming back home and air Traffic Control knew that he was in an f16, he was getting some very unusual queries from air traffic. Hey, do you have any missiles on board . Do you have any bombs on board . So he called back to the office desk where we were all standing around and talked to bob thompson who had taken over the supervising flying duties. Hey, whats going on . Dont worry about it, just come home. How much gas do you got . Just come home and land. So that was puck haginson, and puck came in and he landed. And the two other guys that were still down on the range, dog called them and said, i need you to come home and buster, which means come home as fast as you possibly can. So they were coming home as quickly as possible, and they were also getting tracked by air Traffic Control. So when they landed, dog asked them, how much gas do you guys have, and one of them, billy huchison, had just enough gas to be able to take off. Because they knew air Traffic Control knew based off radar signals that they had and the trans ponder signals, that they anticipated there was another aircraft. On dog told them, take off and look down the river. They think there is another one coming down the river. On billy did a sweep down the south and a sweep down the north and he landed. When he was taking off again when we were taxiing to get airborne. We talked with mary matalin who was with Vice President cheney, examine sheand she basically said the Vice President had the no kill orders for the crash on the World Trade Centers. Did you get those orders . What was transpiring . Once we finally got word actually, four of us. It was mark s is as srkssasa, asavil, we had a very quick briefing regarding, take off, how are we going to Stay Together . Yust the just the bread examine butterand butter of how we would operate. On sav and i would take off. So two planes . Yes, sav and i would take off. And when they had an a9 missile on the aircraft, then they would take off. So sav and i would take off first and then they would wait however long they needed to until they got an a9. Were you prepared for that . Were you prepared to shoot down a commercial passenger jet . We wouldnt be shooting it down. We would be ramming the aircraft. Because we didnt have weapons on board to be able to shoot the airplane down. Between both sav and i had 105 bellullets, leadnosed. On is as we were putting on our flight gear in the life support shop, sav looked at me and said, ill run the cockpit. And i had made the decision i would take the tail off the aircraft, because if you ran the cockpit