(9:00 a.m.-9:15 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Top Air Force Officials Learn of Attacks on WTC, Yet Continue with Scheduled Meeting

General Lance W. Lord. [Source: Air Force Space Command]At the Pentagon, several top Air Force officials together learn of the attacks on the World Trade Center, yet initially appear to make only limited efforts toward an emergency response. In the Air Force Council conference room, located in the Pentagon basement, General John Jumper is chairing his first staff meeting as Air Force chief of staff. [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 136] Jumper only became chief of staff five days earlier, on September 6, and this is his first official duty day. [Air Force Magazine, 10/2001; Midland Reporter-Telegram, 4/2/2002; Air Force Space Command News Service, 9/5/2002] Others in the meeting include Secretary of the Air Force James Roche and Lance Lord, the assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force. The meeting has just gone through its intelligence briefing, and then, at about 9:00 a.m., a technician turns the large briefing screen on to CNN. It displays the coverage of the burning North Tower of the World Trade Center. Everyone then sees as the second plane crashes into the South Tower. Jumper declares, “We’re under attack.” [Air Force Space Command News Service, 9/5/2002; Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 136] Tim Green, the assistant executive to the Air Force chief of staff who is also in the meeting, later recalls: “Everyone in the room knew instantly that we were at war. It’s amazing to watch people in that situation, they immediately shift gears from whatever they were doing to do what needed to be done.… We set up a Crisis Action Team down in our Operations Center and they began working immediately.” [Midland Reporter-Telegram, 4/2/2002] Another report confirms that the Air Force’s Crisis Action Team (CAT) is activated at “about 9 a.m.” (see (9:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Dover Post, 9/19/2001] However, according to the Defense Department’s own book about the Pentagon attack, “After viewing televised news for about eight minutes,” Jumper resumes his meeting. He concludes it quickly, and then departs for his office. Jumper and Roche will not arrive at the Pentagon’s Air Force Operations Center, from where the CAT is carrying out its emergency operations, until after 9:37, when the Pentagon is hit (see (Shortly After 9:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 136]