![]() "Every military base, I'm sure, immediately went to the highest (security) posture," Lyles said. "But you're never tested on a scenario this significant." "You're trained on it, you're tested on it," he said. The base found itself with a "total force" presence - active-duty, Reserve and National Guard forces all on hand on Sept. "But also, when the community needs us, how do we help the community as well?"Īt the time, a runway at the Springfield Air National Guard Base was under repair, and an assortment of F-16s were parked at Wright-Patterson. "Everybody went immediately, to 'How do we protect the base itself?'" Hazen said. The wing "went to battle staff," sending home personnel in roles deemed nonessential and immediately strengthening security at the gates. His initial response was to implement force protection measures on which he and his Air Base Wing team had long drilled. "The comment was, 'We're at war,'" Hazen said, recalling words from a colleague. Once it was clear this was an intentional act of terrorism, Hazen ― now associate director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico - recalled that he and his staff did not hesitate in their first steps. "I realized this was not an accident," he said. WRIGHT PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE TVIt ended in time for Lyles to walk back into his office, where a TV was on - and he saw the second plane hit the second tower. "No matter what the (pay)grade was, they stepped up and performed like they never performed before." "Every airman was a leader," said Hazen, a retired colonel. "What I recall from that day was the team worked like it never had before," said Michael Hazen ― who was commander of the 88th Air Base Wing, the custodian unit overseeing Wright-Patterson. Everett Odgers, who was the AFMC comptroller on 9/11. "It was a bolt out of the blue," said retired Maj. Together, they present a vivid account of a team of uniformed service members and government employees fighting to respond to unforeseen threats. The Dayton Daily News spoke with Lyles and others linked to Wright-Patterson, home to much of the Air Force's massive research and logistics work, to get a sense of their memories of that fateful day. "There were some technologies that we could immediately offer, if you will, to help in the search, to help in determining where there may be people alive in the rubble," Lyles said in an interview. ![]()
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