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Complete 911 Timeline Military Exercises Up to 9/11Project:
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Entity Tags: Richard A. Clarke, Richard (“Dick”) Cheney, Oliver North, National Program Office, James Woolsey, Kenneth Duberstein, Donald Rumsfeld, George Herbert Walker Bush Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline, Civil Liberties Category Tags: Military Exercises
Entity Tags:
Donald Rumsfeld,
Richard (“Dick”) Cheney
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline, Civil Liberties Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Richard Clarke, who will be the counterterrorism “tsar” on 9/11,
regularly participates in a series of highly secret “Continuity of
Government” (COG) exercises. [Washington Post, 4/7/2004] Throughout the
1980s, the COG exercises rehearse how to keep the federal government running
during and after a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (see
1981-1992). After the fall of the Soviet Union, the exercises continue,
but based instead around a possible terrorist attack on the United States
(see
1992-2000).
[Atlantic Monthly, 3/2004] In 2004, Clarke
will reveal that he has participated regularly in these exercises over the
previous 20 years. He recalls that he had “gone off into caves in mountains
in remote locations and spent days on end in miserable conditions,
pretending that the rest of the world had blown up, and going through the
questions, going through the drill.” He adds: “Everyone there play acts that
it’s really happened. You can’t go outside because of the radioactivity. You
can’t use the phones because they’re not connected to anything.” He also
describes the COG plan requiring coded communications, saying: “There’s an
elaborate system for the people in this network, first of all, to verify
each other’s identity. That person on the other end has a certain password
and information that they have to pass for us to believe that they’re who
they say they are.” [Washington Post, 4/7/2004;
ABC News, 4/25/2004] Clarke was a senior
analyst at the State Department since 1979, and rises to prominence during
the Reagan administration when he becomes deputy assistant secretary of
state for intelligence. [Washington Post, 3/13/2003;
BBC, 3/22/2004] After being a member of
the National Security Council since 1992, in 1998 he is appointed as
counterterrorism “tsar” (see
May 22, 1998). [9/11 Commission, 3/24/2004 At some point between 1991 and 2001, a regional NORAD sector holds an exercise simulating a foreign hijacked airliner crashing into a prominent building in the United States, the identity of which is classified. According to military officials, the building is not the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. The exercise involves some flying of military aircraft, plus a “command post exercise” where communication procedures are rehearsed in an office environment. [CNN, 4/19/2004]
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Time magazine reports in 1994, “During the Gulf War, uniformed air-defense teams could be seen patrolling the top floor [of the White House] with automatic rifles or shoulder-mounted ground-to-air missiles.” [Time, 9/26/1994] While a battery of surface-to-air-missiles remains permanently on the roof of the White House, the rest of these defenses are apparently removed after the war is over. [Daily Telegraph, 9/16/2001] Yet even though counterterrorism officials later call the alerts in the summer of 2001 “the most urgent in decades,” similar defensive measures will apparently not be taken. [US Congress, 9/18/2002] During the 1980s, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld were regular
participants in top-secret exercises, designed to test a program called
Continuity of Government (COG) that would keep the federal government
functioning during and after a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (see
1981-1992). Despite the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the
Soviet Union, the COG exercises continue into the 1990s, being budgeted
still at over $200 million per year.
Entity Tags:
Clinton administration,
Andrew Cockburn,
Richard A. Clarke,
Donald Rumsfeld,
Richard (“Dick”) Cheney,
James Mann,
US Department of Defense Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline, Civil Liberties Category Tags: Counterterrorism Action Before 9/11, Military Exercises ![]() Robert Marr, who on 9/11 will be the battle commander at NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), gains experience in military training exercises. After flying on active duty for nearly 18 years, in 1994 Marr leaves the service. For 20 months, he works as the captain of a Lear 36 business jet that is contracted as part of a simulated “target force,” hired to stage attacks on the United States. In 1996 he returns to NEADS as the director of exercise and analysis. In this post, Marr no doubt gains further experience around military exercises. In 1998, he is named vice commander of NEADS, and in 1999 he will be promoted to become the commander of NEADS. [Post-Standard (Syracuse), 3/27/2005; Spencer, 2008, pp. 5-6] Marr’s particular experience around military exercises is notable, since NEADS will be in the middle of a major training exercise on the morning of 9/11 (see (6:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Newhouse News Service, 1/25/2002] Numerous training exercises are held around the US, based on the scenario
of terrorist attacks that involve aircraft hijackings. Richard Clarke, the
counterterrorism “tsar” from 1998 until October 2001, will later testify
that, before 9/11: “In many, many cities and probably most metropolitan
areas, the FBI had worked with the state and local authorities to plan
responses to certain kinds of terrorist attacks. We then held a series of
exercises around the country. For example, on weapons of mass destruction
attacks, we had had a whole series of exercises about hijackings of
aircraft.”
[US Congress, 6/11/2002
Entity Tags:
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Richard A. Clarke Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) holds a training exercise based
on the scenario of an aircraft hijacking, which involves a real plane
playing the part of the hijacked aircraft. The exercise will be described to
the 9/11 Commission in 2004 by Major Paul Goddard, who is the chief of live
exercises for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) at the
time of the 9/11 attacks. According to Goddard, the exercise, held in 1995,
is called “Twin Star” and the FAA invites NORAD to participate in it, “since
a real commercial airliner was to be shadowed by a fighter intercept.”
Goddard will tell the 9/11 Commission his understanding is that the exercise
involves the entire FAA system, and the National Military Command Center
(NMCC) at the Pentagon also participates in it. [9/11 Commission, 3/4/2004] Colin
Scoggins, the military operations specialist at the FAA’s Boston Center on
9/11, will describe what is apparently this exercise when he is interviewed
by the 9/11 Commission in 2003. He will say he believes the exercise is
“joint FAA/military” and is conducted “in 1995 or 1996.” According to
Scoggins, the exercise involves “a military scramble to escort a hijacked
aircraft,” but the fighter jets taking part are “unable to intercept” the
mock hijacked plane.
[9/11 Commission, 9/22/2003
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Colin Scoggins,
National Military Command Center,
Twin Star,
Paul Goddard,
Federal Aviation Administration Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]() After Presidential Decision Directive 39 (PDD-39), issued in June 1995
(see
June 21, 1995), requires key federal agencies to maintain well-exercised
counterterrorist capabilities, the number of counterterrorism exercises
being conducted increases significantly. According to a 1999 report by the
General Accounting Office, whereas 32 counterterrorist exercises are held
between June 1995 and June 1996, from June 1997 to June 1998, 116 such
exercises are conducted. Some of the exercises held between June 1995 and
June 1998 are “tabletop exercises,” where participants work through a
scenario around a table or in a classroom and discuss how their agency might
react; others are “field exercises,” where an agency’s leadership and
operational units practice their skills in a realistic field setting. Four
exercises during this period are “no-notice” exercises, where participants
have no advance notice of the exercise. These four exercises are conducted
by either the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Department of Energy. DoD
leads 97 of the exercises—almost half of the total—held between June 1995
and June 1998. The Secret Service leads 46, the FBI 24, and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) leads 16. Most of the exercises are
conducted in the US and are based around the scenario of a domestic
terrorist attack. Although intelligence agencies have determined that
conventional explosives and firearms continue to be the weapons of choice
for terrorists, the majority of exercises are based around scenarios
involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD)—chemical, biological, or nuclear
weapons or agents. More than two-thirds of the exercises have WMD scenarios,
with the most common WMD being chemical agents, such as sarin. The other
exercises have more traditional and more likely scenarios involving
conventional weapons and explosives. [United States General Accounting Office, 6/25/1999 New York City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) was created in 1996
by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to manage the city’s response to catastrophes,
including terrorist attacks (see
1996). In the years preceding 9/11, it holds regular interagency
training exercises, aiming to carry out a tabletop or field exercise every
eight to 12 weeks. Mayor Giuliani is personally involved in many of these.
The exercises are very lifelike: Giuliani will later recount, “We used to
take pictures of these trial runs, and they were so realistic that people
who saw them would ask when the event shown in the photograph had occurred.”
Scenarios drilled include disasters such as a sarin gas attack in Manhattan,
anthrax attacks, and truck bombs. One exercise, which takes place in May
2001, is based on terrorists attacking New York with bubonic plague (see
May 11, 2001). Another, conducted in conjunction with the New York Port
Authority, includes a simulated plane crash. Just one week before 9/11, OEM
is preparing a tabletop exercise with the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority (MTA), to develop plans for business continuity in New York’s
Financial District—where the World Trade Center is located—after a terrorist
attack. Jerome Hauer, OEM director from 1996 to February 2000, later
testifies, “We looked at every conceivable threat that anyone on the staff
could think of, be it natural or intentional but not the use of aircraft as
missiles.” He tells the 9/11 Commission: “We had aircraft crash drills on a
regular basis. The general consensus in the city was that a plane hitting a
building… was that it would be a high-rise fire.… There was never a sense,
as I said in my testimony, that aircraft were going to be used as missiles.”
[Time, 12/22/2001;
Giuliani, 2002, pp. 62-63;
Jenkins and Edwards-Winslow, 9/2003, pp. 30;
9/11 Commission, 5/19/2004;
9/11 Commission, 5/19/2004
Entity Tags:
New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority,
New York Port Authority,
Jerry Hauer,
Office of Emergency Management,
Rudolph (“Rudy”) Giuliani Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Counterterrorism Action Before 9/11, Military Exercises ![]() The US military and other government agencies conduct a military exercise called “Eligible Receiver 97” to ascertain the nation’s vulnerability to electronic attacks by other states or terrorists. A Red Team of “hackers” from the NSA penetrates military computers and civilian infrastructure in the telecommunications and electricity industries. While the details are classified, officials say that the exercise shows that the US could suffer a catastrophic attack in the form of an “electronic Pearl Harbor.” The electricity could be shut down and the 911 emergency phone service could be disrupted. These fears will find confirmation after 9/11 when evidence of possible cyber attacks by al-Qaeda will be uncovered (see Summer 2001 and 2002). [CNN, 11/7/1997; Washington Times, 4/16/1998; Washington Post, 5/24/1998; CNN, 4/6/1999; Air Force Magazine, 12/2005] However, George Smith, a computer security expert, discounts the threat. An electronic Pearl Harbor, he says, is “not likely.” Computer viruses and other forms of computer attack are not effective weapons and the vulnerability of the civilian infrastructure is exaggerated. [Issues in Science and Technology, 1998] A modernization program of the 1st Air Force’s air operation centers, which include NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), is started. Over the next several years, Litton Data Systems is tasked with computerizing the way the Air National Guard accomplishes its air sovereignty mission, which is the surveillance of US skies in coordination with the FAA. Until now, flight plans from the FAA have been “compiled in logs and have to be searched by hand to identify aircraft,” according to National Guard magazine. “The new system will mean fewer manual inquiries and phone contact with FAA officials about commercial aircraft. The FAA flight plan is now hooked up via computer with the new R/SAOCs [Regional/Sector Air Operation Centers] so operators can easily track friendly aircraft through our air space without having to get someone on the phone or thumb through written log books of flight plans. Composite air pictures are now shown in real time on the screen with no delay in transmission. Plans on the screen are shown as they are happening.” The software also allows computer simulations to be used for training purposes, so operators can “go through a situation at their terminals as if it were happening.” Col. Dan Navin, the special assistant to the commander of 1st Air Force, says, “It will enhance our ability to do what many say is the most important job of the Air Force, and that is air sovereignty.” The new systems should be fully operational in all seven 1st Air Force air operation centers by 2003. [National Guard, 9/1997] It is possible that this software is being used on the morning of 9/11, when a NORAD training exercise will include simulated information, known as “inject,” being shown on its radar screens (see (9:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Toronto Star, 12/9/2001]
Entity Tags:
Northeast Air Defense Sector,
1st Air Force,
Air National Guard,
Litton Data Systems Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
US Secret Service,
Paul O’Neill,
Paul L. Nenninger
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke chairs a tabletop exercise at the White House, involving a scenario where anti-American militants fill a Learjet with explosives, and then fly it on a suicide mission toward a target in Washington, DC. Officials from the Pentagon, Secret Service, and FAA attend, and are asked how they would stop such a threat. Pentagon officials say they could launch fighters from Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, but would need authorization from the president to shoot the plane down, and currently there is no system to do this. The 9/11 Commission later states: “There was no clear resolution of the problem at the exercise.” [Slate, 7/22/2004; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 345, 457-458]
Entity Tags:
Langley Air Force Base,
US Secret Service,
US Department of Defense,
Federal Aviation Administration,
Richard A. Clarke Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Warning Signs, Military Exercises, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics, US Air Security ![]() At its operations center in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, the North
American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) practices dealing with hijackings
five times per month, on average, during training exercises. A NORAD
document produced a month after 9/11 will state that the Cheyenne Mountain
Operations Center (CMOC) “routinely conducts the Amazon Arizona series of
internal exercises that include hijack scenarios.” Prior to September 11,
2001, the document continues, “CMOC averaged five hijack training events
each month.” Further details of these “Amazon Arizona” exercises are
unstated in the document. [North American Aerospace Defense Command, 10/13/2001]
But other sources provide additional information about what they might
entail.
Entity Tags:
Stacey Knott,
Amazon Arizona,
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Ken Merchant Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() A training exercise, code-named Poised Response, is held at the FBI’s headquarter in Washington, DC, based around a possible terrorist attack in the nation’s capital. US Attorney General Janet Reno invites 200 policemen from the Washington metropolitan area to participate. They have to consider four scenarios: a car bombing, an explosive device in a federal building, an assassination attempt on Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and a chemical weapon attack on a Washington Redskins football game. As Time magazine later describes, while the exercise participants are “never told which terrorist might carry out such an audacious attack, Reno and other top Administration aides had one man in mind: Osama bin Laden, whose Afghan camp had been blasted by US cruise missiles two months earlier. His operatives might be coming to town soon.” Time will report there being evidence that bin Laden could be planning to strike Washington or New York (see December 21, 1998). Reportedly, Poised Response is unsuccessful, quickly degenerating into interagency squabbling, and Reno leaves it feeling uneasy. [Agence France-Presse, 12/15/1998; Time, 12/21/1998; Washington Times, 5/17/2002]
Entity Tags:
Osama bin Laden,
Janet Reno Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() At some point during the two-year period preceding 9/11, NORAD fighters perform a mock shootdown over the Atlantic Ocean of a jet loaded with chemical poisons heading toward the US. [USA Today, 4/18/2004]
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises, US Air Security ![]() According to USA Today, “In the two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, the North American Aerospace Defense Command conduct[s] exercises simulating what the White House [later] says was unimaginable at the time: hijacked airliners used as weapons to crash into targets and cause mass casualties.” One of the imagined targets is the World Trade Center. According to NORAD, these scenarios are regional drills, rather than regularly scheduled continent-wide exercises. They utilize “[n]umerous types of civilian and military aircraft” as mock hijacked aircraft, and test “track detection and identification; scramble and interception; hijack procedures; internal and external agency coordination; and operational security and communications security procedures.” The main difference between these drills and the 9/11 attacks is that the planes in the drills are coming from another country, rather than from within the US. Before 9/11, NORAD reportedly conducts four major exercises at headquarters level per year. Most of them are said to include a hijack scenario (see Before September 11, 2001). [USA Today, 4/18/2004; CNN, 4/19/2004]
Entity Tags:
World Trade Center,
North American Aerospace Defense Command Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Continental US NORAD Region,
Falcon Indian,
Northeast Air Defense Sector,
Southeast Air Defense Sector,
Western Air Defense Sector,
Richard B. Myers
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() A 1998 presidential directive gave the National Security Council authority to designate important upcoming events as National Special Security Events (NSSEs) (see May 22, 1998). The US Secret Service is in charge of planning and implementing security for NSSEs, and the FBI and FEMA also have major security roles. [CSO Magazine, 9/2004; Scripps Howard News Service, 1/11/2005] Louis Freeh, director of the FBI for much of the 1990s until June 2001, will later tell the 9/11 Commission that in the years 2000 and 2001, the subject of “planes as weapons” was always one of the considerations in the planning of security for “a series of these, as we call them, special events,” and “resources were actually designated to deal with that particular threat.” He confirms that “the use of airplanes, either packed with explosives or otherwise, in suicide missions” was “part of the planning” for NSSEs. [9/11 Commission, 4/13/2004] According to the Secret Service, “there is a tremendous amount of advance planning and coordination” for NSSEs, sometimes taking months or even years. Various training initiatives are conducted, including “simulated attacks and medical emergencies, inter-agency tabletop exercises, and field exercises.” [United States Secret Service, 2002; US Congress, 7/9/2002] Presumably the use of airplanes in suicide missions is incorporated into some of these simulated attacks.
Entity Tags:
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Federal Emergency Management Agency,
US Secret Service Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics ![]()
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Continental US NORAD Region,
Northeast Air Defense Sector,
Falcon Indian,
Southeast Air Defense Sector,
Western Air Defense Sector,
Richard B. Myers
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Over the 12 months preceding September 11, the Army’s DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic (DTHC) at the Pentagon works to develop its mass casualty (MASCAL) plan. This work will significantly and fortuitously help the clinic when it has to implement the plan in response to the Pentagon attack on 9/11. Major Lorie Brown, the chief nurse at the DTHC, is the chairperson for the DiLorenzo Action Response Team (DART). As she will later recall, over this 12-month period, the DART team works “on developing that [MASCAL] plan, really creating a whole new plan. We sat down and met on numerous occasions with the Air Force clinic [also based in the Pentagon], civilian EMS [Emergency Medical Services], Pentagon and [Department of Defense] hierarchy, DPS [the Defense Protective Service], and with the other civilian medical agencies.” They work through various issues, such as “what would happen in the event of a MASCAL, what each of our roles would be.” The DART team, Brown says, participates “in several large tabletop exercises with these external bodies, to include FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] and the others I just mentioned. We even did our own internal exercise where we made up the scenario of a plane crashing into the building.” [Office of Medical History, 9/2004, pp. 7] This “internal exercise” is likely a reference to an exercise held by the DTHC in May 2001 (see May 2001). [US Department of Health and Human Services, 7/2002, pp. B17] Another exercise Brown participates in over this period is the Pentagon Mass Casualty Exercise in October 2000 (see October 24-26, 2000), which also includes a scenario of a plane hitting the Pentagon. [MDW News Service, 11/3/2000] Brown will later credit this work developing the MASCAL plan as being of great benefit when the Pentagon is hit on 9/11, and the plan is initiated (see Soon after 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). She will say: “[O]ur planning truly made such a huge difference on that day. Our commander had the foresight to focus on MASCAL prep and gave us the time and budget to really revamp our old MASCAL plan. I can’t say enough about how critical this was to our success.” [Office of Medical History, 9/2004, pp. 7]
Entity Tags:
DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic,
Lorie Brown,
DiLorenzo Action Response Team Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Richard B. Myers,
Southeast Air Defense Sector,
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Vigilant Guardian,
Western Air Defense Sector,
Northeast Air Defense Sector
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Pentagon,
US Department of Defense
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The FAA practices for scenarios similar to the attacks that take place on
9/11 as part of at least one training exercise this month, according to a
liaison officer with the agency. John Hawley, who works for the FAA’s
intelligence division as a liaison to the State Department, will later
recall that during an exercise, or exercises, this month, some scenarios are
practiced that are “pretty damn close to [the] 9/11 plot.” He will tell the
9/11 Commission that “one of the scenarios may have had something to do with
a chartered flight out of Ohio that had turned the transponder off,” and
comment that the scenarios “really forced you to think outside the box.”
According to Hawley, Mike Canavan—the recently-appointed associate
administrator for civil aviation security at the FAA (see
December 4, 2000)—is “definitely in charge” of running these scenarios.
[9/11 Commission, 10/8/2003
Entity Tags:
Mike Canavan,
Federal Aviation Administration,
John Hawley Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The Joint Chiefs of Staff holds a large, worldwide exercise called
Positive Force, which focuses on the Defense Department’s ability to conduct
large-scale military operations and coordinate these operations. [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 8/14/2000
Entity Tags:
US Department of Defense,
Pentagon,
Bush administration (43) Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises, US Air Security ![]() The Army’s DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic (DTHC) and the Air Force
Flight Medicine Clinic, both housed within the Pentagon, hold a tabletop
exercise along with Arlington County Emergency Medical Services. The
scenario practiced for is of an airplane crashing into the Pentagon’s west
side—the same side as is impacted in the attack on 9/11. [US Department of Health and Human Services, 7/2002,
pp. B17;
Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 23 and 107]
Reportedly, the purpose of the exercise is “to fine-tune their
emergency preparedness.” [US Medicine, 10/2001] According to US
Medicine newspaper, the plane in the scenario is a hijacked Boeing 757.
[US Medicine, 1/2002] (Flight 77, that
targets the Pentagon on 9/11, is a 757. [New York Times, 9/13/2001] ) But a
federally funded report on the response to the Pentagon attack says it is a
commuter airplane. [US Department of Health and Human Services, 7/2002,
pp. B17] The Defense Department’s own book about the Pentagon
attack says the plane in this exercise is a twin-engine aircraft (757s, like
Flight 77, are twin-engine aircraft), but that it crashes into the Pentagon
by accident in the scenario. [New York Times, 9/13/2001;
Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 107] The idea
of a plane hitting the Pentagon was suggested by Colonel John Baxter, the
commander of the Air Force Flight Medicine Clinic, who has often been
reminded that the Pentagon is on the flight path of nearby Reagan National
Airport. The scenario was approved by Air Force Surgeon General Paul Carlton
Jr. [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 107 and 109]
Baxter and Col. James Geiling, the commander of the DTHC, later say
this exercise prepares them well to respond to the Pentagon attack on 9/11.
For example, the Air Force Flight Medicine Clinic retools its trauma packs
as a result. [US Medicine, 10/2001] And, due to the
exercise, staffers of both clinics will wear special blue vests on 9/11
labeled “physician,” “nurse,” or “EMT,” to allow for easy identification.
[Uniformed Services University, 1/2002
Entity Tags:
Air Force Flight Medicine Clinic,
Arlington County Emergency Medical Services,
John Baxter,
Lorie Brown,
Paul Carlton,
DiLorenzo Tricare Health Clinic,
James Geiling,
Pentagon Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The Joint Experimentation Directorate of the US Joint Forces Command, in partnership with US Central Command and US Special Operations Command, conducts a three-week exercise called Unified Vision 2001 (UV 01). Over 40 organizations and 350 personnel from all branches of the armed services and other federal agencies participate. [US Joint Forces Command, 6/25/2001; Aerospace America, 12/2001; US Congress, 4/9/2002; Arkin, 2005, pp. 540] UV 01 tests the ability of the military’s provisional Homeland Security Joint Force to respond, following “chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high yield explosives for the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia.” It is based around the scenario of a major regional threat coming from the Middle East, requiring a “global deployment into a landlocked country with hostile terrain and a lack of basing and agreements with neighboring countries for US access.” Dave Ozolek, assistant director of the exercise, says, “The threat we portrayed was an unstable and hostile state, but the primary enemy was not the state itself but a transnational actor based out of that area, globally connected, capable and willing to conduct terrorist attacks in the US as part of that campaign.” As the American Forces Press Service will later report, “real events similar to the Unified Vision scenario unfolded in the attacks of Sept. 11. The al-Qaeda is a global terrorist network hosted by an unstable, landlocked Central Asian regime.” Many of the participants in UV 01 will, following 9/11, become war planners and utilize their experiences from the exercise in the resulting military operations. Ozolek will later remark, “Nostradamus couldn’t have nailed the first battle of the next war any closer than we did.… [T]his time we got it right.” He will say, however, that UV 01 did not foresee the severity of terrorist attacks that occurred on 9/11, and involved terrorists attacking US military targets, rather than civilian ones. The Joint Forces Command will refuse to say whether the Pentagon was among these imagined targets. [American Forces Press Service, 7/30/2002; Washington Times, 9/11/2002]
Entity Tags:
Dave Ozolek,
Unified Vision,
Special Operations Command,
US Central Command,
US Joint Forces Command Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() New York City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), which is located in
World Trade Center Building 7, organizes a bio-terrorism drill where
militant extremists attack the city with bubonic plague and Manhattan is
quarantined. The “tabletop exercise” is called RED Ex—meaning “Recognition,
Evaluation, and Decision-Making Exercise” —and involves about seventy
different entities, agencies, and locales from the New York area. Federal
legislation adopted in 1997 requires federal, state, and local authorities
to conduct regular exercises as part of the Domestic Preparedness Program
(DPP). The US Defense Department chose New York City as the venue for RED Ex
due to its size, prominence, and level of emergency preparedness. Various
high-level officials take part, including Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, OEM
Director Richard Sheirer, Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, and Police
Commissioner Bernard Kerik. Agencies and organizations that participate
include New York City Fire Department, New York City Police Department, the
FBI, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The exercise is
supposedly so intense that, according to one participant, “five minutes into
that drill, everybody forgot it was a drill.” [New York City Government, 5/11/2001;
New York City Government, 9/5/2001, pp. 74
Entity Tags:
New York City Fire Department,
US Department of Defense,
World Trade Center,
Bernard Kerik,
Rudolph (“Rudy”) Giuliani,
National Air College,
New York City Police Department,
Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Federal Bureau of Investigation Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The Pentagon’s police force, the Defense Protective Service (DPS), conducts emergency drills throughout summer 2001. Some members of the DPS subsequently assist in directing rescue efforts at the Pentagon on 9/11. [Los Angeles Times, 9/13/2001] The FAA takes part in a training exercise based around the hijacking of a
Boeing 767, the same kind of aircraft as those that hit the Twin Towers on
9/11. The exercise is conducted as part of efforts to update the strategy
for dealing with hijackings. Its participants include the FAA, the FBI’s
Miami field office, Miami-Dade County Police Department, a SWAT team, and
Varig Airlines, and it utilizes a 767. Further details are unknown, but the
hijacking exercise presumably takes place somewhere in the Miami area of
Florida. [9/11 Commission, 9/15/2003, pp. 6
Entity Tags:
FBI Miami Field Office,
Federal Aviation Administration,
Miami-Dade County Police Department,
Varig Airlines Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
US Department of Defense,
Amalgam Virgo,
North American Aerospace Defense Command
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() A major training exercise based upon a simulated terrorist attack is held
in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, which neighbors Somerset County where
Flight 93 crashes on 9/11. The exercise, called Mall Strike 2001, is
conducted in Greengate Mall, Hempfield, and involves over 600 emergency
first responders and emergency managers responding to the simulated release
of a toxic chemical agent and the simulated release of radiation and
radiological contamination. [Westmoreland County Annual Financial Report, 2001 A dozen leading politicians, scholars, journalists, and security experts meet at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for an exercise simulating the consequences of a biological terrorist attack, in this case the release of smallpox by terrorists. The participants include: Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA), who plays the president of the United States; former presidential adviser David Gergen as the national security advisor; Governor Frank Keating (R-OK), who plays himself; James Woolsey playing the CIA director; and Jerome Hauer as the FEMA director. The exercise, named “Dark Winter,” starts with three states suddenly confronted with an outbreak of smallpox. Americans are no longer vaccinated against this virus because it was eradicated decades ago. Thousands quickly fall ill. The medical system is overwhelmed. Masses start to flee from the infected areas, but are stopped at the borders of neighboring states. Faced with chaos, the exercise ends with the president declaring martial law. Reviewing the exercise, participants and observers agree that the nation is vulnerable to biological terrorism and unprepared for an actual attack. [Time, 9/24/2001; US Medicine, 12/2001; Center for Biosecurity, 2002; O'Toole, Mair, and Inglesby, 4/1/2002] In the days following 9/11, Vice President Dick Cheney will watch a video report on the exercise, and, at his urging, the National Security Council will receive a “harrowing” and “gruesome” briefing on September 20, on the possibility of a biological attack. [Mayer, 2008, pp. 3-4] At about the same time as Dark Winter is taking place, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) returns smallpox to the list of reportable diseases. Smallpox had been removed from the list decades ago after worldwide eradication. The agency says it is increasing its surveillance efforts of infectious pathogens that could be used in a biological terrorist attack. [United Press International, 5/31/2001] After the 9/11 attacks, public health officials will deny that the re-listing of smallpox was the result of any specific intelligence warnings. [UPI, 10/22/2001]
Entity Tags:
James Woolsey,
Sam Nunn,
Richard (“Dick”) Cheney,
Frank Keating,
David Gergen,
Jerry Hauer,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Dark Winter Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() A MASCAL (mass casualty) training exercise is held at Fort Belvoir, an army base 12 miles south of the Pentagon. It is “designed to enhance the first ready response in dealing with the effects of a terrorist incident involving an explosion.” [MDW News Service, 7/5/2001] NORAD is already planning for the Amalgam Virgo 02 exercise. This exercise, scheduled for June 2002, will involve the simulation of two simultaneous commercial aircraft hijackings. One plane, a Delta 757, flown by Delta pilots, will fly from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. It will be “hijacked” by FBI agents posing as terrorists. The other plane will be a Navy C-9 bound from Oak Harbor, Washington, to Vancouver, British Columbia, and will be “hijacked” by Royal Canadian Mounted Police. On both planes, military personnel will act as civilian passengers. US and Canadian fighters are to respond, and either force the planes to land or simulate shooting them down. Describing Amalgam Virgo 02 to the 9/11 Commission, NORAD’s Major General Craig McKinley later says, “Threats of killing hostages or crashing were left to the script writers to invoke creativity and broaden the required response for players.” About 1,500 people will participate in the exercise. USA Today will note that this is an exception to NORAD’s claim that, prior to 9/11, it focused only on external threats to the US and did not consider the possibility of threats arising from within the US. 9/11 Commissioner Richard Ben-Veniste will similarly comment that this planned exercise shows that, despite frequent comments to the contrary, the military considered simultaneous hijackings before 9/11. [CNN, 6/4/2002; American Forces Press Service, 6/4/2002; Associated Press, 6/5/2002; 9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003; USA Today, 4/18/2004]
Entity Tags:
Craig McKinley,
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Richard Ben-Veniste,
Amalgam Virgo Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]() A mass casualty exercise, involving a practice evacuation, is held at the Pentagon. General Lance Lord, the assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force who is one of the participants in the exercise, will later recall, “[It was] purely a coincidence, the scenario for that exercise included a plane hitting the building.” Lord will also say that on 9/11, “our assembly points were fresh in our minds” thanks to this practice. [Air Force Space Command News Service, 9/5/2002] The US Army is preparing to severely restrict public access to its posts in the Washington, DC area. For decades, visitors have been able to enter these bases freely. But now, as a probably permanent change, barriers will be erected across many roads leading into them, funneling traffic to a few roads staffed by guards. Drivers entering without proper registration will be sent to a visitor’s center to obtain a guest pass. [Washington Post, 8/15/2001] The new measures will mean commanders know who is entering their installations 24 hours a day, and give them the capability to adjust security measures immediately if required. [MDW News Service, 8/3/2001] The changes will occur at all installations belonging to the Military District of Washington (MDW). [MDW News Service, 7/2001] These include forts Hamilton, Meade, Belvoir, Ritchie, Myer, and McNair. Several of these bases will be reported as having implemented the changes in the following weeks, prior to September 11 (see August 20, 2001)(see September 4, 2001)(see September 5, 2001). Whether the changes take place at the other MDW installations prior to 9/11 is unknown. Part of MDW’s stated mission is to “respond to crisis, disaster or security requirements in the National Capital Region through implementation of various contingency plans.” [Military District of Washington, 8/2000; GlobalSecurity (.org), 11/28/2001] It will therefore be much involved with the rescue and recovery efforts following the 9/11 Pentagon attack. [Army, 10/2004] The restriction of access to MDW posts stems from guidance from Army leadership and specifically from MDW Commander Maj. Gen. James Jackson. [MDW News Service, 7/2001] It is reportedly part of a nationwide security clampdown due to concerns about terrorism, following such attacks as the Oklahoma City bombing and the attack on the USS Cole. [Washington Post, 8/15/2001]
Entity Tags:
Military District of Washington,
US Department of the Army Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() About 100 members of the 174th Fighter Wing, part of the New York Air National Guard, are deployed to Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, to patrol the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, as part of the ongoing Operation Southern Watch. This is the unit’s second deployment there, its first having been in March 2001. [Post-Standard (Syracuse), 9/11/2001; Post-Standard (Syracuse), 9/12/2001; US Congress, 3/1/2005; 174th Fighter Wing, 12/9/2005] The 174th FW is located at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base, five miles north of Syracuse, in Central New York State. It is currently equipped with 17 F-16 fighters. These are kept in a six-bay shelter where they are, reportedly, “ready to fly in any weather, at a moment’s notice.” [Airman, 1/2001; Post-Standard (Syracuse), 9/25/2001; GlobalSecurity (.org), 4/26/2005] However, Hancock Field is not one of NORAD’s two “alert” sites in the northeast US. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] The unit has 350 full-time staff and 650 part-timers, who work one weekend each month plus two full weeks a year. [Post-Standard (Syracuse), 9/25/2001; Post-Standard (Syracuse), 10/24/2001] The 100 members of the unit who go to Saudi Arabia are due to arrive back at Hancock Field at around 3 p.m. on 9/11, but as a consequence of the day’s events are diverted to Canada. [Post-Standard (Syracuse), 9/14/2001] They will eventually arrive back at the base on September 14. [Post-Standard (Syracuse), 9/15/2001] In the months after 9/11, 174th FW fighters are involved in flying combat air patrols over New York City. [Post-Standard (Syracuse), 12/8/2001; New York State, 3/26/2003]
Entity Tags:
Operation Southern Watch,
New York Air National Guard,
174th Fighter Wing Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises, US Air Security ![]() Fort Meade, a US Army installation located between Baltimore and Washington, DC, begins strict new entrance restrictions. For decades, visitors such as churchgoers and parents taking their children to schools on the base have been able to enter the post freely. But the Army is now closing seven access points, with only four points remaining open full time and four others part time. The restrictions, part of a security crackdown ordered by Army leaders concerned about terrorism, will require visitors to stop at a visitor’s center and obtain a day pass allowing them to enter and travel on the base. [Washington Post, 8/15/2001; Laurel Leader, 8/23/2001; Laurel Leader, 8/23/2001] Fort Meade is home to about 10,000 military personnel and 25,000 civilian employees. Its major tenant units include the National Security Agency (NSA), the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), and the US Air Force’s 694th Intelligence Group. [Military District of Washington, 8/2000; GlobalSecurity (.org), 4/9/2002] All other installations in the Military District of Washington are currently implementing similar access restrictions (see August 15, 2001). [MDW News Service, 7/2001]
Entity Tags:
Fort Meade,
Military District of Washington Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Tom Sizemore,
Walter Reed Army Medical Center,
Fort Belvoir,
National Naval Medical Center
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() A tabletop exercise is held at the Department of Transportation (DOT) in Washington, DC, as part of its preparations for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. According to Ellen Engleman, the administrator of the DOT’s Research and Special Programs Administration, this is “actually much more than a tabletop” exercise, though she does not explain how. She will later recount, “During that exercise, part of the scenario, interestingly enough, involved a potentially hijacked plane and someone calling on a cell phone, among other aspects of the scenario that were very strange when 12 days later, as you know, we had the actual event [of 9/11].” [Mineta Transportation Institute, 10/30/2001, pp. 108] Further details of this exercise are unknown. The DOT’s Crisis Management Center will be heavily involved in the 9/11 crisis response, acting as a focal point for the transportation response to the attacks (see 9:00 a.m. September 11, 2001).
Entity Tags:
US Department of Transportation,
Ellen Engleman Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Thomas Bergeson,
71st Fighter Squadron,
Nellis Air Force Base,
Red Flag
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
121st Fighter Squadron,
Nellis Air Force Base,
Red Flag,
District of Columbia Air National Guard
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
71st Fighter Squadron,
94th Fighter Squadron,
Operation Southern Watch,
Larry Arnold,
27th Fighter Squadron,
Langley Air Force Base
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Fort Belvoir,
Military District of Washington
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Stephen J. Lofgren,
US Department of the Army,
US Army Crisis Action Team,
Peter W. Chiarelli,
Raymond C. V. Robinson Jr.
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The Department of Energy’s nuclear bomb squad, known as the Nuclear
Emergency Search Team (NEST), is in Europe for an exercise called Jackal
Cave. [Richelson, 2009, pp. 178;
National Security Archive, 1/23/2009] The
unit was created in 1975 following a extortionist’s threat to detonate a
nuclear device in Boston if not paid a ransom. Since then, the group has
been responsible for evaluating nuclear threats and, if the threat is judged
credible, by searching for and disabling a nuclear device. [Time, 1/8/1996] This is the NEST’s first
foreign deployment since 1998. Jackal Cave is a large exercise involving 500
personnel and 62 aircraft. The CIA and a special operations force are also
involved in locating a mock nuclear device, which NEST would then disable.
[National Security Archive, 1/23/2009] The
exercise is canceled after the 9/11 attacks and the search team repatriated
in the following days (see also
October 11, 2001). [Swindon Advertiser, 8/30/2001;
BBC News, 9/13/2001] All Department of
Energy participants and equimpment are returned to the US within five days
of the attacks. [Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, 2003
Entity Tags:
Central Intelligence Agency,
US Department of Energy,
Nuclear Emergency Search Team Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Fort Myer and Fort Lesley J. McNair, both within two miles of the Pentagon, implement “full access control,” which means they increase the level of military police surveillance of those who enter them. Visitors are now required to register and sign in at a visitor center, and obtain a temporary pass. The measures, part of a security crackdown due to concerns about terrorism, will allow commanders to know who is entering their installations 24 hours a day and adjust their security measures immediately as needed. [MDW News Service, 8/3/2001; Washington Post, 8/15/2001] All other Army posts in the Washington, DC area are currently implementing similar access restrictions (see August 15, 2001).
Entity Tags:
Fort Lesley J. McNair,
Fort Myer,
Military District of Washington Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) practices for
dealing with the simulated hijackings of two commercial aircraft by
terrorists, as part of its annual training exercise called Vigilant
Guardian. Whether the simulated hijackings take place simultaneously or at
different times of the day is unclear. [9/11 Commission, 2004;
Spencer, 2008, pp. 3]
Entity Tags:
Vigilant Guardian,
National Security Agency,
Federal Aviation Administration,
Alaskan NORAD Region,
Canadian NORAD Region,
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Central Intelligence Agency Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Personnel at NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) practice their responses to a simulated plane hijacking in which terrorists plan to blow up a hijacked airliner over New York City. The scenario is part of the annual NORAD training exercise Vigilant Guardian. [9/11 Commission, 2004; Spencer, 2008, pp. 3] In the scenario, the fictitious hijackers take over a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 aircraft bound from London, Britain, to JFK International Airport in New York. According to a document later produced by the 9/11 Commission, the terrorist hijackers have explosives on the plane and “plan to detonate them over NYC.” As the scenario plays out, a “Blue Force” is able to divert the hijacked aircraft. When the terrorists then realize they are not near New York, they “detonate [the] explosives over land near the divert location.” There are no survivors. [9/11 Commission, 2004] NEADS is based in Rome, New York, and will play a key role in coordinating the US military’s response to the 9/11 attacks two days later. On the morning of September 11, its personnel will be scheduled to practice another scenario based around an aircraft hijacking, presumably as part of the same Vigilant Guardian exercise (see (9:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 17; Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006]
Entity Tags:
Northeast Air Defense Sector,
Vigilant Guardian Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) commences Northern
Vigilance, a military operation that involves it deploying fighter jets to
Alaska and Northern Canada to monitor a Russian Air Force training exercise.
The Russian exercise is scheduled to take place over the North Atlantic,
Pacific, and Arctic Oceans from September 10 to September 14 (see
September 10, 2001), and the NORAD fighters are set to stay in Alaska
and Northern Canada until it ends. [BBC, 2001, pp. 161;
North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/9/2001;
Washington Times, 9/11/2001] As well as
conducting this operation, NORAD is currently running a major exercise
called Vigilant Guardian, which “postulated a bomber attack from the former
Soviet Union,” according to the 9/11 Commission Report (see
September 10, 2001,
(6:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001, and
(8:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 2004;
9/11 Commission, 3/1/2004
Entity Tags:
Operation Northern Vigilance,
North American Aerospace Defense Command Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Robert J. Darling,
Critical Incident Response Group,
FBI Hostage Rescue Team,
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Personnel at NORAD’s Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS) at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, practice for the scenario of an aircraft being hijacked by Cuban asylum seekers. The scenario is part of the annual NORAD training exercise, Vigilant Guardian. [9/11 Commission, 2004; Spencer, 2008, pp. 3] In the scenario, the fictitious hijackers take over an Ilyushin IL-62 jet airliner that took off from Havana, Cuba. The hijackers, who are “demanding political asylum, demand to be taken to” New York City, according to a document later produced by the 9/11 Commission. As the scenario plays out, the FAA requests support from NORAD. The FAA directs the plane toward Jacksonville, Florida, but the hijackers then demand to be taken to Atlanta, Georgia. Finally, the hijacked plane lands safely at Dobbins Air Force Base in Georgia. [9/11 Commission, 2004] The following morning, September 11, personnel at NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, New York, are scheduled to practice what is apparently a similar plane hijacking scenario, presumably as part of the same Vigilant Guardian exercise (see (9:40 a.m.) September 11, 2001). According to Vanity Fair, that scenario will involve “politically motivated perpetrators” seeking asylum “on a Cuba-like island.” [Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006]
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Southeast Air Defense Sector,
Federal Aviation Administration,
Vigilant Guardian Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
Eric A. “Rick” Findley,
Russian Air Force,
North American Aerospace Defense Command
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]() September 10, 2001: ’Continuity of Government’ Communications System Switched on for ‘Exercise Mode’The Special Routing Arrangement Service (SRAS), which is run by the
National Communications System (NCS), is turned on for “exercise mode,”
meaning it is ready to be utilized the following day in response to the
terrorist attacks. [9/11 Commission, 3/16/2004
Entity Tags:
Continuity of Government,
National Communications System,
Brenton C. Greene,
Robert Kenny,
Special Routing Arrangement Service Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() The FBI conducts a training exercise based on the scenario of an aircraft
hijacking at Washington Dulles International Airport, the airport from which
American Airlines Flight 77—the third plane to be hijacked—will take off on
9/11 (see
(8:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001). The FBI exercise is based around a
“traditional” hijacking that involves hostages being taken by the hijackers,
according to Dana Pitts, an airport operations manager for the Metropolitan
Washington Airports Authority. Members of the Dulles Airport staff provide
some “operational support” during the exercise. Further details, including
the date when the exercise is held, are unstated. [9/11 Commission, 10/16/2003
Entity Tags:
Washington Dulles International Airport,
Dana Pitts,
Federal Bureau of Investigation Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]() The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is responsible for detecting and responding to any attack on the mainland United States, is in the early stages of a major training exercise called Vigilant Guardian that is to take place off the shores of the northeastern US and Canada. The exercise is not scheduled to really take off until the following day, September 11 (see (6:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001), but simulated intelligence briefings and meetings are now being held to set the stage for the mock engagements to come. According to author Lynn Spencer, Vigilant Guardian “is the kind of war game that the Russians usually respond to, even in this post-Cold War era.” The Russians have in fact announced that they will be deploying aircraft to several of their “Northern Tier” bases on September 11. Russian jets have penetrated North American airspace during previous NORAD exercises, and Colonel Robert Marr, the commander of NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), has prepared for them to do so again during the current exercise. If this happens, armed US fighter jets will intercept the Russian aircraft and escort them back to their own territory. In case there is any confrontation, Marr has ordered that his alert fighter jets be loaded with additional fuel and weapons. According to Spencer, on September 11, all alert fighters will be “loaded with live missiles in anticipation of any show of force that might be needed to respond to the Russians.” [Spencer, 2008, pp. 3-5] NORAD has already announced that it is deploying fighters to Alaska and Northern Canada to monitor a Russian air force exercise being conducted in the Russian Arctic and North Pacific Ocean throughout this week (see September 9, 2001). [BBC, 2001, pp. 161; North American Aerospace Defense Command, 9/9/2001] According to the 9/11 Commission, the Vigilant Guardian exercise will in fact postulate “a bomber attack from the former Soviet Union.” [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 458]
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
Robert Marr,
Northeast Air Defense Sector,
Vigilant Guardian Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) arrive in
New York for a forthcoming training exercise and, as a result, their
equipment is available to be used by members of the New York Police
Department’s Emergency Service Unit (ESU) who are involved in search and
rescue operations at Ground Zero the following day. [Appel, 2009, pp. 195-196] The FEMA
representatives are among hundreds of people scheduled to take part in a
terrorism training exercise on September 12 that is being organized by the
New York City Office of Emergency Management (see
September 12, 2001). The exercise, called “Tripod,” is set to take place
at Pier 92 on the Hudson River. [New York Magazine, 10/15/2001;
City of New York, 5/22/2002;
9/11 Commission, 5/19/2004]
Entity Tags:
Tripod,
Federal Emergency Management Agency Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises ![]() Based on interviews with FBI officials, the New Yorker will report that, for several years prior to 9/11, the US government plans for “simulated terrorist attacks, including scenarios [involving] multiple-plane hijackings.” This presumably refers to more than just the Amalgam Virgo 02 exercise (see July 2001), which is based on the scenario of two planes being simultaneously hijacked. [New Yorker, 9/24/2001] Similarly, NORAD will state that before 9/11, it normally conducts four major exercises each year at headquarters level. Most of them include a hijack scenario, and some of them are apparently quite similar to the 9/11 attacks (see Between 1991 and 2001 and Between September 1999 and September 10, 2001). [USA Today, 4/18/2004; CNN, 4/19/2004] According to author Lynn Spencer, before September 11, “To prepare for their missions in support of NORAD, the Air National Guard pilots—some of the finest pilots in the world—often use hijacking scenarios to train for intercept tactics.” [Spencer, 2008, pp. 84-85] John Arquilla, an associate professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, later says that while “No one knew specifically that 20 people would hijack four airliners and use them for suicide attacks against major buildings… the idea of such an attack was well known, [and] had been war gamed as a possibility in exercises before Sept. 11.” [Monterey County Herald, 7/18/2002]
Entity Tags:
North American Aerospace Defense Command,
United States,
Air National Guard,
John Arquilla Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: US Air Security, Military Exercises ![]()
Entity Tags:
World Trade Center,
Pentagon,
Al-Qaeda,
United Airlines,
American Airlines
Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Warning Signs, Pipeline Politics, Al-Qaeda in Germany, Alhazmi and Almihdhar, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Israel, Alleged Iraq-Al-Qaeda Links, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the ISI, US Dominance, Zacarias Moussaoui, Nabil Al-Marabh, Counterterrorism Action Before 9/11, Ali Mohamed, Able Danger, Mohamed Atta, Robert Wright and Vulgar Betrayal, Military Exercises, Mamoun Darkazanli, BMI and Ptech, Osama Bin Laden, Phoenix Memo, Remote Surveillance, Al Taqwa Bank, Terrorism Financing, Al-Qaeda Malaysia Summit, Yemen Hub, Alleged Al-Qaeda Linked Attacks, Counterterrorism Policy/Politics, Training Exercises ![]() Before 9/11, New York City was scheduled to have a major terrorism training exercise on this day, in a large commercial warehouse on the Hudson River. Called Tripod, it was intended to test how well the city’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) could administer treatment in the event of a biological-terrorism attack. More than 1,000 Police Academy cadets and Fire Department trainees were recruited to act the parts of terrified civilians afflicted with a range of medical conditions. Various individuals were invited to watch, including Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the police and fire commissioners, and representatives of the FBI and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Presumably many have already arrived for the exercise when the 9/11 attacks occur (see 7:00 a.m. -9:03 a.m. September 11, 2001). Because Pier 92, where Tripod was due to take place, has been set up ready for the exercise, OEM staff are able to move there and quickly convert it into a large emergency operations center when their original command center (in WTC Building 7) is evacuated and later destroyed during 9/11. Thus, within 31 hours of the attacks, OEM has a functional facility able to manage the search and rescue effort, just four miles north-northwest of the WTC site. [New York Magazine, 10/15/2001; Jenkins and Edwards-Winslow, 9/2003, pp. 20; 9/11 Commission, 5/19/2004] Tripod is the follow-up to a previous training exercise in New York, called RED Ex (see May 11, 2001). [New York Sun, 12/20/2003] Due to the 9/11 attacks, Tripod is called off, but will eventually take place on May 22, 2002. [City of New York, 5/22/2002]
Entity Tags:
Federal Emergency Management Agency,
Office of Emergency Management,
Rudolph (“Rudy”) Giuliani,
Tripod,
Federal Bureau of Investigation Timeline Tags: 9/11 Timeline Category Tags: Military Exercises |
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