(Between 9:05 a.m. and 9:32 a.m.) September 11, 2001: DC Air National Guard Officer Calls Secret Service, Told It Does Not Need Help

An officer with the District of Columbia Air National Guard (DCANG) at Andrews Air Force Base, just outside Washington, calls the Secret Service and asks if it needs any help, but, after a “quick, confusing conversation,” the agent he speaks with only says he will call back. [Filson, 2003, pp. 76; Spencer, 2008, pp. 124]
Caine Concerned about Jets on Training - Major Daniel Caine is the supervisor of flying this morning with the 113th Wing of the DC Air National Guard, which is based at Andrews. After learning of the second attack on the World Trade Center (see (9:04 a.m.) September 11, 2001), he went to the operations desk. His “primary concern,” he will later recall, is three of the wing’s jets, which are away on a training mission over North Carolina (see 8:36 a.m. September 11, 2001), and that he wants to get back to base promptly. [9/11 Commission, 3/8/2004 ; Spencer, 2008, pp. 122-123] Caine has called the control tower at Andrews and asked if any air traffic measures are going into effect due to the attacks. [Filson, 2003, pp. 76] He was told during that call that the tower had just received a message that the Secret Service wants fighter jets launched over Washington (see (Shortly After 9:04 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/28/2003; 9/11 Commission, 3/8/2004 ; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 465]
Caine Offers Help to Secret Service - Caine then calls Kenneth Beauchamp, his contact at the Secret Service. The exact time he makes this call is unclear. Caine asks: “Do you have any additional information? Are you guys going to need some help?” Beauchamp replies, “No, but I’ll call you back if that changes.” Caine will later say Beauchamp tells him that “things were happening and he’d call me back.” Caine describes this as “a very quick, confusing conversation.” [Filson, 2003, pp. 76; 9/11 Commission, 3/8/2004 ; Spencer, 2008, pp. 124] Lieutenant Colonel Marc Sasseville, the acting operations group commander under the 113th Wing, will later comment: “At that time, we weren’t thinking about defending anything. Our primary concern was what would happen to the air traffic system.” [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 9/9/2002]
Beauchamp Does Not Call Back - Despite saying he will call Caine back, Beauchamp does not do so. [9/11 Commission, 3/8/2004 ] However, someone else from the Secret Service will subsequently call Caine, and ask if his unit can get some planes launched (see (Shortly After 9:33 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Filson, 2003, pp. 78; Spencer, 2008, pp. 156]
Secret Service Has Authority over DCANG - According to author Lynn Spencer, “Given that the Secret Service provides protection to the president—and that the president, and the vice president when the president is not available, is the ultimate commander in chief of the military—the Secret Service also has certain authority over the military and, in this case, the DC Guard.” [Spencer, 2008, pp. 123] The 113th Wing also works closely with Secret Service agents that are across the runway at Andrews, in the Air Force One hangar. [Washington Post, 4/8/2002; Vogel, 2007, pp. 445]

Entity Tags: Secret Service, Marc Sasseville, Daniel Caine, Kenneth Beauchamp

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline