NORAD was in day two of a week long exercise called "Vigilant Guardian" in which some of it's military participants thought the first reports of the hijackings later on in the day were "part of the exercise."
On Sept. 11, as Americans watched horror rain upon New York and Washington, command teams at a little-known military outpost in Rome, N.Y., worked feverishly to restore safe skies and rouse a slumbering homeland defense.At the Northeast Air Defense Sector, radar operators who constantly scan the continent's boundaries suddenly faced a threat from within and a race they could not win.6 A.M.: WAR GAMESLt. Col. Dawne Deskins figured it would be a long day.Sept. 11 was Day II of "Vigilant Guardian," an exercise that would pose an imaginary crisis to North American Air Defense outposts nationwide. The simulation would run all week, and Deskins, starting her 12-hour shift in the Operations Center as the NORAD unit's airborne control and warning officer, might find herself on the spot.At 8:40, Deskins noticed senior technician Jeremy Powell waving his hand. Boston Center was on the line, he said. It had a hijacked airplane."It must be part of the exercise," Deskins thought.At first, everybody did. Then Deskins saw the glowing direct phone line to the Federal Aviation Administration.On the phone she heard the voice of a military liaison for the FAA's Boston Center."I have a hijacked aircraft," he told her.Six minutes after Boston Center's call, NEADS scrambled two armed F-15s at Otis Air Base on Cape Cod."We had no idea where the aircraft was," recalled Maj. James Fox, who gave the order. "We just knew it was over land, so we scrambled them towards land."As the first plane hit the World Trade Center, the F-15s were rumbling off the runways at Otis.Boston Center was still tracking a blip believed to be Flight 11." - Newhouse News Service (01/28/02)
"At 8:40 a.m. EDT, Tech. Sgt. Jeremy W. Powell of North American Aerospace Defense Command's (Norad) Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, N.Y., took the first call from Boston Center. He notified NEADS commander Col. Robert K. Marr, Jr., of a possible hijacked airliner, American Airlines Flight 11. "Part of the exercise?" the colonel wondered. No; this is a real-world event, he was told. Several days into a semiannual exercise known as Vigilant Guardian, NEADS was fully staffed, its key officers and enlisted supervisors already manning the operations center "battle cab." In retrospect, the exercise would prove to be a serendipitous enabler of a rapid military response to terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Senior officers involved in Vigilant Guardian were manning Norad command centers throughout the U.S. and Canada, available to make immediate decisions. Fortunately, Maj. Gen. Eric A. Findley, another Canadian and Norad's director of operations, was already in the mountain for the Vigilant Guardian exercise." - Aviation Week (06/03/02)
"If that weren't protection enough, on September 11th, NEADS (or the North East Air Defense System dept of NORAD) was several days into a semiannual exercise known as "Vigilant Guardian". This meant that our North East Air Defense system was fully staffed. In short, key officers were manning the operation battle center, "fighter jets were cocked, loaded, and carrying extra gas on board." Lucky for the terrorists none of this mattered on the morning of September 11th." - Statement of Mindy Kleinberg to the 9/11 Commission (03/31/02)
"116. On 9/11, NORAD was scheduled to conduct a military exercise, Vigilant Guardian, which postulated a bomber attack from the former Soviet Union. We investigated whether military preparations for the large-scale exercise compromised the military's response to the real-world terrorist attack on 9/11. According to General Eber-hart, "it took about 30 seconds" to make the adjustment to the real-world situation. Ralph Eberhart testimony, June 17, 2004.We found that the response was, if anything, expedited by the increased number of staff at the sectors and at NORAD because of the scheduled exercise. See Robert Marr interview (Jan. 23, 2004)." - 9/11 Commission
"On the morning of 9/11, we were conducting a NORAD command post exercise and our headquarters and regions were postured for “wartime conditions.” Six minutes prior to the first attack on the World Trade Center, the FAA informed NORAD of the potential hijack of American Airlines Flight 11. As events unfolded throughout the morning, NORAD responded immediately with fighters and appropriate airspace control measures. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of time and distance, we were unable to influence the tragic circumstances." - Gen. Ralph Eberhart testimony, 9/11 Commission (06/17/04)
9/11 Tapes Reveal Ground Personnel Muffled Attacks
"So many unconnected dots, contradictions and implausible coincidences. Like the fact that NORAD was running an imaginary terrorist-attack drill called "Vigilant Guardian" on the same morning as the real-world attacks. At 8:40 a.m., when a sergeant at NORAD’s center in Rome, N.Y., notified his northeastern commander, Col. Robert Marr, of a possible hijacked airliner—American Flight 11—the colonel wondered aloud if it was part of the exercise. This same confusion was played out at the lower levels of the NORAD network." - New York Observer (06/17/04) [Reprinted at: dangerouscitizen.com]
(See also: 9/11 (9:00 am) - The CIA began an exercise to simulate a plane crashing into one of it's buildings; September 12, 2001 - FEMA scheduled to participate in biochemical attack drill called "Operation TRIPOD" in New York City; February 11, 2005 - Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers confirm there were four wargames on 9/11)
"At 8:40 a.m. EDT, Tech. Sgt. Jeremy W. Powell of North American Aerospace Defense Command's (Norad) Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) in Rome, N.Y., took the first call from Boston Center. He notified NEADS commander Col. Robert K. Marr, Jr., of a possible hijacked airliner, American Airlines Flight 11. "Part of the exercise?" the colonel wondered. No; this is a real-world event, he was told. Several days into a semiannual exercise known as Vigilant Guardian, NEADS was fully staffed, its key officers and enlisted supervisors already manning the operations center "battle cab." In retrospect, the exercise would prove to be a serendipitous enabler of a rapid military response to terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Senior officers involved in Vigilant Guardian were manning Norad command centers throughout the U.S. and Canada, available to make immediate decisions. Fortunately, Maj. Gen. Eric A. Findley, another Canadian and Norad's director of operations, was already in the mountain for the Vigilant Guardian exercise." - Aviation Week (06/03/02)
"If that weren't protection enough, on September 11th, NEADS (or the North East Air Defense System dept of NORAD) was several days into a semiannual exercise known as "Vigilant Guardian". This meant that our North East Air Defense system was fully staffed. In short, key officers were manning the operation battle center, "fighter jets were cocked, loaded, and carrying extra gas on board." Lucky for the terrorists none of this mattered on the morning of September 11th." - Statement of Mindy Kleinberg to the 9/11 Commission (03/31/02)
"116. On 9/11, NORAD was scheduled to conduct a military exercise, Vigilant Guardian, which postulated a bomber attack from the former Soviet Union. We investigated whether military preparations for the large-scale exercise compromised the military's response to the real-world terrorist attack on 9/11. According to General Eber-hart, "it took about 30 seconds" to make the adjustment to the real-world situation. Ralph Eberhart testimony, June 17, 2004.We found that the response was, if anything, expedited by the increased number of staff at the sectors and at NORAD because of the scheduled exercise. See Robert Marr interview (Jan. 23, 2004)." - 9/11 Commission
"On the morning of 9/11, we were conducting a NORAD command post exercise and our headquarters and regions were postured for “wartime conditions.” Six minutes prior to the first attack on the World Trade Center, the FAA informed NORAD of the potential hijack of American Airlines Flight 11. As events unfolded throughout the morning, NORAD responded immediately with fighters and appropriate airspace control measures. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of time and distance, we were unable to influence the tragic circumstances." - Gen. Ralph Eberhart testimony, 9/11 Commission (06/17/04)
9/11 Tapes Reveal Ground Personnel Muffled Attacks
"So many unconnected dots, contradictions and implausible coincidences. Like the fact that NORAD was running an imaginary terrorist-attack drill called "Vigilant Guardian" on the same morning as the real-world attacks. At 8:40 a.m., when a sergeant at NORAD’s center in Rome, N.Y., notified his northeastern commander, Col. Robert Marr, of a possible hijacked airliner—American Flight 11—the colonel wondered aloud if it was part of the exercise. This same confusion was played out at the lower levels of the NORAD network." - New York Observer (06/17/04) [Reprinted at: dangerouscitizen.com]
(See also: 9/11 (9:00 am) - The CIA began an exercise to simulate a plane crashing into one of it's buildings; September 12, 2001 - FEMA scheduled to participate in biochemical attack drill called "Operation TRIPOD" in New York City; February 11, 2005 - Donald Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers confirm there were four wargames on 9/11)
