Terrorist @ MindSay

I ask this of all the new people I meet, when this day comes around now.

Where were you when the terrorist attacks were happening?

What were you doing?

What was running through your mind?

I ask this because it ends up being on most everyone's mind today. My sis gets bummed because although she feels sorry that this happened to the US, the 12th is her birthday. People get so wrapped up in it that the next day they tend to forget, at least in the first couple of years this happened. Now, memories are still long, pain lingers for those who were directly affected, and life has moved on, somewhat.

I still like to ask. It's amazing to see the responses. No two are alike.

So I pose this to whomever reads this blog entry. See the three questions above. :)

I personally was not at home during the attack, I was in Franklin, IN. I was on the job with a previous company supervising the installation of a conveyor system into the distribution center (DC) of what was Musicland. Eventually Best Buy bought Musicland, and so where I was at was at a recently 'converted' DC.

The installers were laying down conveyor and securing it, and in this area was an open break 'room' with a 27" TV next to all the coffee and snack machines. A small crowd gathered around the TV in the middle of the morning, watching the breaking news unfold as a plane had hit the WTC. At the time, they were surmising that it was a Cessna that hit, because noone saw the plane - or came forward just yet. It was still too fresh. I remember seeing that scar in the side of the building, smoking slightly, papers fluttering down. And I remember thinking, "No Cessna did that much damage."

A little while later, the crowd grew around the TV as the second plane hit. Now it got serious. People were wondering what the heck was going on. Was this an attack? Who was doing this? What was wrong with the Air Traffic Control? Then it started to come across that there were hijackings going on. Then the third plane crashed into the Pentagon, and it seemed everyone went into a low-key panic. News reports were coming in like crazy - missile this, hijacking that, type of plane upgraded to passeger airliners.

Then the 4th plane crashed in PA.

Then the first tower fell.

And then the second.

Going back to the hotel in Indianapolis, it was a madhouse in front of the gas station. Prices skyrocketed to $5.00/ gal from a little under $2.00 the day before. I filled up when I got down there the previous day, so I was good to go. All that night in Indy, all I could hear were emergency vehicles going somewhere. For 2 hours, I estimated. This small Midwest city was going haywire. I think the crews were going to NYC to see if they could help. A friend/neighbor of mine was going to fly to Cancun the next day. She ended up driving instead to catch the ship. That was a long haul.

The next few days were surreal. Not one aircraft in the sky. Where I live is in the flight path of one of the major airports, and I got used to, over the years, hearing an airliner scream on takeoff and make whatever turn it needed to head to its destination. Seeing the contrails as airplanes passed through different temperature layers and water-laden air. None of that in the following days. I thought, "This is the way the skies were about 100 years ago, before powered heavier-than-air flight became a reality. Amazing."

An eerie peace. I know that the Sears Tower was evacuated, as it was theorized that it would be the next target at the time. I can't imagine how things would have been if an aircraft had smacked into the single tallest occupied building in North America.

So... where were you when 9/11/01 was permanently etched into US History?

American Forces Press Service

July 31, 2008 - The George C. Marshall European Center, a German-American defense and security studies institute here, graduated the first class of its new course on trans-Atlantic civil security yesterday. The course takes an all-hazards approach to civil security as it looks at how nations can prevent, prepare for and manage pandemic disease, natural disasters and industrial accidents as well as terrorist attacks, Marshall Center officials said. Forty-two military and civilian emergency management officials from 25 countries completed the new three-week course.

"For years, many nations lacked a formal framework for the concept of civil security," Peter Verga, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, said at the graduation ceremony. "The increased threat of terrorism and regularly occurring natural disasters in the U.S. and around the world have given a renewed sense of urgency to this topic."

Efforts to fight the wildfires burning in California this month as the first participants attended the course give a vivid example of the civil-military cooperation and international cooperation necessary to deal with catastrophic events, Verga noted.

The Defense Department provided eight aircraft with firefighting capabilities, 12 helicopters and about 3,000 National Guardsmen to combat the fires, Verga said, and more than 25,000 firefighters from 41 states and Canada, Greece, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico joined the effort.

"[It is] a historic effort not only in magnitude, but also in terms of international support to the United States during wildfires," Verga said.

With each country approaching civil security differently, emergency management officials need to be able to understand the perspectives of their international partners, said Marine Lt. Col. Kevin Killea, who coordinates Defense Department resources that can be provided to civil authorities in a crisis.

"It can't be an instance where the loudest voice in the room wins, because that is not the integration that you are looking for," he said. "That will not facilitate the partnership needed during a catastrophe."

Forums such as the new course are critical to making such international cooperation possible, course participants said.

"In my country, for example, we have a different approach to crisis management and consequence management. We have a different perception about these things, and also about how to implement and manage these issues," said Lt. Rafig Gurbanzada, chief officer of the International Activities Department of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Emergency Situations. "But I came here to learn about Western perspectives, to hear from Western scholars and what they think about specific issues. It was very useful for me."

Course director John L. Clarke said he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants in the inaugural class, but expects to make changes for the second class based on their suggestions.

"We want to focus the course even more on some of the key mission areas of the civil security concept and the lessons learned from specific case studies," Clarke said. "We have already received a lot of input from our course participants on case studies that they think we ought to consider for future iterations of the program."

The second class will take place in February. The new course is one of five resident courses offered by the Marshall Center. Since the center's dedication in 1993, more than 6,100 military and civilian officials from more than 100 nations have graduated from resident courses.

(From a George C. Marshall European Center news release.)

American Forces Press Service

July 29, 2008 - Coalition forces killed a known terrorism facilitator during an operation in Baghdad today when the man refused to follow instructions to surrender, military officials reported. Coalition forces shot and killed the man -- who was known to be part of a network that provides false documents and moves supplies around Iraq -- when he made a threatening movement that was perceived as hostile intent, officials said.

In other operations today:

-- Coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists in Baghdad while targeting a car-bombing cell.

-- East of Samarra, coalition forces captured an alleged al-Qaida leader and one other suspect. The wanted man reportedly oversees terrorist activity in the region and recruits women to conduct suicide bombings.

-- Coalition forces targeted associates of al-Qaida senior leaders during operations in and around Mosul, detaining 13 suspected terrorists.

-- Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained a key suspected criminal and four of his suspected associates in eastern Baghdad. Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team detained the suspects while conducting an operation specifically targeting them in the New Baghdad district. The individuals allegedly house and hide key criminal leaders, officials said. In addition to detaining the five suspected criminals, the soldiers seized weapons including an AK-47 assault rifle, AK-47 magazines, knives, a camcorder and assorted documents.

In other news from Iraq, coalition forces identified a suspected foreign terrorist facilitator driving southwest of Qaim yesterday. They stopped the man, who was with four children, and detained him without incident. Coalition forces drove the children home and left them in the care of family members.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

American Forces Press Service

July 28, 2008 - Coalition forces today captured two wanted men and detained 28 additional suspected terrorists while targeting al-Qaida operations in central and northern Iraq, military officials said. Coalition forces detained two wanted men and five additional suspects during an operation in Abu Ghraib, about 25 kilometers west of Baghdad. One of the men reportedly is an al-Qaida in Iraq leader who oversees attacks. The other wanted man allegedly makes and emplaces roadside bombs.

Using information obtained from a June 24 operation, coalition forces in Mosul targeted a man believed to oversee al-Qaida financial operations in Ninevah province. They detained one suspect, and seven additional suspects were detained in another operation targeting an al-Qaida in Iraq senior leader.

Tips from local residents helped coalition forces envelop a village southwest of Mosul that reportedly is a hideout for al-Qaida facilitators and smugglers coming in from Syria. Fifteen suspects were detained.

During yesterday's operations:

-- Coalition forces captured two suspected leaders of Iranian-backed "special groups" and another suspect during separate operations in Baghdad's Rusafa district. Coalition forces first captured one suspected special groups leaders operating in the Sadr City area. He is linked to attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, as well as to kidnappings and smuggling of weapons from Iran to Iraq. In a separate operation in the Rusafa district, coalition forces captured the leader of a Karkh-area special groups ring and another suspect. The detained leader is linked to the provision of weapons, money and logistical support to subordinates. He also is believed to have supplied fighters to support criminal operations.

-- Fifty-eight suspected al-Qaida members were detained and four were killed during a coalition search operation in Ninewah province.

-- U.S. soldiers detained a special groups operative and discovered a weapons cache in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. The detainee is linked to rocket and roadside-bomb attacks against coalition forces. Later, the soldiers discovered two nitrous oxide tanks, a fire extinguisher filled with homemade explosives, ammunition, two pressure plates used in roadside bombs and a smoke grenade in Baghdad's Doura community. An explosives ordnance disposal team disposed of the explosive materials.

Meanwhile, Iraqi security forces detained a suspected al-Qaida terrorist and discovered a weapons cache in separate operations in northern Iraq July 25.

The Muqdadiyah special weapons and tactics team detained a suspected al-Qaida member in Babylon, northeast of Baghdad, in an operation to disrupt terrorist activity in Muqdadiyah. The suspect allegedly is a facilitator for a cell involved in roadside-bomb emplacements, sectarian violence and weapons smuggling.

Also, Iraqi National Police operating northwest of Baghdad discovered a weapons cache consisting of about a metric ton of nitric acid, 150 pounds of explosive materials, mortar rounds, projectiles, tank rounds and rockets. An explosive ordnance disposal unit disposed of the cache.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)