Standard operating procedures for military scramble approval was for the FAA to contact the National Military Command Center (NMCC) to request air support, then the NMCC would contact NORAD to find out about aircraft availability, then NORAD would seek final approval from Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.
"On Sept. 11, the normal scramble-approval procedure was for an FAA official to contact the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and request Pentagon air support. Someone in the NMCC would call Norad's command center and ask about availability of aircraft, then seek approval from the Defense Secretary--Donald H. Rumsfeld--to launch fighters." - Aviation Week (06/03/02)
9/11 Tapes Reveal Ground Personnel Muffled Attacks
"What’s more, the decades-old procedure for a quick response by the nation’s air defense had been changed in June of 2001. Now, instead of NORAD’s military commanders being able to issue the command to launch fighter jets, approval had to be sought from the civilian Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. This change is extremely significant, because Mr. Rumsfeld claims to have been "out of the loop" nearly the entire morning of 9/11. He isn’t on the record as having given any orders that morning. In fact, he didn’t even go to the White House situation room; he had to walk to the window of his office in the Pentagon to see that the country’s military headquarters was in flames.Mr. Rumsfeld claimed at a previous commission hearing that protection against attack inside the homeland was not his responsibility. It was, he said, "a law-enforcement issue."Why, in that case, did he take onto himself the responsibility of approving NORAD’s deployment of fighter planes?" - New York Observer (06/21/04) [Reprinted at: dangerouscitizen.com]
• Side note - "Ironically, FAA officials only a few months earlier had tried to dispense with "primary" radars altogether, opting to rely solely on transponder returns as a way to save money. Norad had emphatically rejected the proposal." - Aviation Week (06/03/02)
(See also: June 1, 2001 - Dept. of Defense (DOD) initiates new instructions for military assistance relating to aircraft hijackings)
"On Sept. 11, the normal scramble-approval procedure was for an FAA official to contact the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and request Pentagon air support. Someone in the NMCC would call Norad's command center and ask about availability of aircraft, then seek approval from the Defense Secretary--Donald H. Rumsfeld--to launch fighters." - Aviation Week (06/03/02)
9/11 Tapes Reveal Ground Personnel Muffled Attacks
"What’s more, the decades-old procedure for a quick response by the nation’s air defense had been changed in June of 2001. Now, instead of NORAD’s military commanders being able to issue the command to launch fighter jets, approval had to be sought from the civilian Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld. This change is extremely significant, because Mr. Rumsfeld claims to have been "out of the loop" nearly the entire morning of 9/11. He isn’t on the record as having given any orders that morning. In fact, he didn’t even go to the White House situation room; he had to walk to the window of his office in the Pentagon to see that the country’s military headquarters was in flames.Mr. Rumsfeld claimed at a previous commission hearing that protection against attack inside the homeland was not his responsibility. It was, he said, "a law-enforcement issue."Why, in that case, did he take onto himself the responsibility of approving NORAD’s deployment of fighter planes?" - New York Observer (06/21/04) [Reprinted at: dangerouscitizen.com]
• Side note - "Ironically, FAA officials only a few months earlier had tried to dispense with "primary" radars altogether, opting to rely solely on transponder returns as a way to save money. Norad had emphatically rejected the proposal." - Aviation Week (06/03/02)
(See also: June 1, 2001 - Dept. of Defense (DOD) initiates new instructions for military assistance relating to aircraft hijackings)
