Coffee, Cigarettes, and the Fog of War: Air Force One on 9/11

American Thinker ^ | September 11, 2016 | Rosslyn Smith

[Kaslin]

One of the untold stories of 9/11 has been a comprehensive telling of what it was like for the President, his staff, the Secret Service, members of the military, guests and the traveling press corps who were aboard Air Force One that day. Bits and pieces have come out. For example, Chief of Staff Andrew Card talked at some length about being caught in the middle of President Bush's insistence he return to Washington, DC and the Secret Service's insistence that either the sky or the hardened bunkers at U.S. Strategic Command outside Omaha were the safest place for him to be for on the Discovery Network's The President;s Gatekeepers.

In We're the Only Plane in the Sky, Politico talked to over two dozen of the people on Air Force One that day, as well as Air Force officers and pieced together a narrative that uses only the words of those who were there. The voices include people from Andrew Card, the White House Chief of Staff, to the commanders of Barksdale and Offutt Air Force Base where Air Force One stopped to refuel, to the White House stenographer tasked with keeping the official record of his scheduled appearance, to the Air Force pilot who took the presidential plane to the edge of its performance envelope, to members of the same Air National Guard unit President Bush had once served in, who escorted Air Force One from over the Gulf of Mexico back to Washington DC.

Here are some of my favorite parts of the story.

From the commander of Barksdale AFB.(Home base of 2d Bomb Wing, the B-52H Stratofortress bombers).

[gaijin]

I heard there was some type of disturbingly complex threat to Air Force One that day also.

[onedoug]

And then he told all the saudis they could go home. And they went home...

[Nifster]

There were stories out there that the terrorists might have hacked the computers or had the codes for Air Force One......I never saw that confirmed just lots and lots of yakking

[afraidfortherepublic]

Wow! What interesting memories. Puts it all in a new perspective, doesn’t it? I find it particularly eye-opening AF 1’s inability to receive AF1’s

[afraidfortherepublic]

My new laptop garbled that last post. I find it particularly eye-opening that AF1 was unable to fully communicate at that time. I think that is one improvement that we have made in the last 15 years.

[CincyRichieRich]

All that and Theodosius Bush family still likes the Saudis and thinks it’s a religion of peace.

[CincyRichieRich]

All that and Theodosius Bush family still likes the Saudis and thinks it’s a religion of peace
...
Supposed to be idiotic not Theodosius...unless he was an idiot, too. I both love and hate my kindle.

[Kaslin]

Now just imagine if Al Gore would have become president, and he would have been down at that school in Florida. He would have panicked and scared the little kids.

Oh never mind the terrorists wouldn't have attacked. That is what the liberals believe.

[DNME]

I liked the part about the Air Force Master Sergeant roaring at the civilian and taking charge to get the fuel for Air Force One.

Senior NCOs have a delightful knack for bringing quick order to chaotic situations, often at the top of their lungs, no matter what knucklehead “thought” he might have been in charge before. Enlisted men hate to be called “sir” but sometimes the word just fits. God bless ‘em!

[SkyPilot]

So sad that today, 15 years later, we have a Muslim “president” who is an enemy from within.