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STATEMENT
OF
MAJOR GENERAL CRAIG R. MCKINLEY, USAF
COMMANDER,
CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICANAEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND REGIONBEFORE THENATIONAL COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKSUPON
THE
UNITED STATES23 MAY2003Governor Kean, Congressman Hamilton
and
members
of the
Commission:
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the
response
of North AmericanAerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to the
terrorist
attacks of September 11,
2001.
It
is an
honor
to
represent
the
thousands
of men and
women
from
the
active duty forces,
Air
National Guard and Air Force Reserve serving around the clock to defend ourNation's airspace. Since the attacks, we have
flown
almost 30,000 airborne sorties as
part
ofOperation NOBLE EAGLE. EverydayAmericansandCanadians work side-by-side in NORAD to protect North America. In addition, we have
forged
unprecedented
relationships
with federal agencies
to
strengthen
our
ability
to
detect
and
defend
against
further
attempts
to
harm
our
Nation
from the
air.
The
following
responds
to the
Commission's specific questions regarding
the
events
surrounding the September 11, 2001 attacks.
WhatinformationdidNQRADand the DoDhave about terroristthreats tocivil
aviation
prior
to
September
11?
There was no intelligence indication at any level within NORAD or the
Department of
Defense (DoD)
of a
terrorist threat
to
commercial aviation prior
to the
attacks. Informationfrom thedaily Joint Chiefs
intelligence
briefingsthe
morning
of
September
11, 2001 indicated
no
specific dangers
or
threats within
the
country.
 
What
NORAD policies
and
procedures were
in
effect
on
September
11
regarding
hijacked
airliners?
Chairman
of the
Joint
Chiefs
of
Staff Instruction 3610.01A, dated
1
June 2001,
entitled
Aircraft
Piracy
(Hijacking)
and
Destruction
of
Derelict Airborne
Objects
outlinesDoD
responsibilities regarding hijacked
aircraft.
It is
still
in
effect.
The
instruction states
the
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
has
exclusive
responsibility to direct law enforcement activity related to actual or attempted
aircraft
piracy in the
"special
aircraft jurisdiction" of the United States. When requested
by
the FAA Administrator, the DoD
provides
assistance
to
these
law
enforcement
efforts.
What happened on September 11 relevant to the hijackings?
The day before the attack, NORAD was participating in an annual exercise calledVIGILANT GUARDIAN.
The
exercise
scenario focused
on
traditional
and
non-traditional attacks coming
from
outside North America.It was acommandandcontrolexercise only and involved no live flying.On
the day of the
attack, fourteen armed fighters were
on
alert
at
seven locations
around
the United States. This was NORAD's normal air sovereignty posture. Due to
the
exercise,
the
NORAD battle
staffs
and the
Continental United States(CONUS)
Air
Operations Center
in
Florida
were manned
and
functioning
at
wartime
levels.
Concurrent
with
VIGILANT GUARDIAN, the Russian Air Force was conducting strategic exercises.
Almost
immediately
after
the
9-11
attacks, the Russian Air Force cancelled their planned
polar
operations.
Howdid
NQRADrespond
to the
four hijacked
airliners
on
September
11?
The FAA
notified
NORAD's NortheastAirDefense SectorinRomeNY at0840EOT that American
Airlines
Flight
11
hadbeen hijacked
after
takingoff
from
Boston
en
 
route
to Los Angeles. At 0843
EOT,
the FAA
notified
NORAD
that United Airlines
Flight
175
from Boston to Los Angeles had also been hijacked.
At
0846 EDT, NORAD scrambled two F-15s from Otis Air National Guard Base,
Falmouth
MA. American Flight
11
crashed into the World Trade Center 1 atapproximatelythe
same
time. The
F-15s
from Otis were airborne at 0852 EDT. WhenUnited Flight175strucktheWorld Trade Center2 at0902 EDT,the F-15swere71miles
away
(8 minutes flying time).
At
0924 EDT, the FAA alerted NORAD that American Flight 77, en route to Los
Angeles
fromDulles International Airport,hadbeen hijacked.Weorderedtwo
F-16
fighters
from Langley Air
Force
Base
VA
to intercept the airliner. The
F-16s
were
airborne
within six minutes, but were
105
miles
(12 minutes) away when AA Flight 77
struck
the
Pentagon.
-
As
F-16s
from Langley
flew
combat air patrols over Washington DC
after
the
attack
on the Pentagon, United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco was overPennsylvania. United Flight 93 crashed outside Shanksville PA at approximately 1003
EDT.
The
F-16s
over Washington DC were 100 miles
(11
minutes) away.What
other
defensive
measures
were
taken by
NORAD
to protect our
Nation
on
September
11?
Our
Nation's air defense posture rapidly grew from fourteen to over 200 hundred
fighters,
tankersandairborne early warning
aircraft
by1900EDT onSeptember 11,2001. By the morning of September 12, we had over 400
aircraft
on alert or airborne.
Combat
air patrols were generated over sixteen
major
metropolitan areas. The Second
and
Third Fleet commanders
offered
the
capabilities
of
their carrier battle groups
and
of 00

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