Context of 'After 9:03 a.m. September 11, 2001: Delta Force Personnel in Hungary Receive Numerous False Reports of Attacks in the US'

Thomas Bergeson. [Source: Samuel Rogers / United States Air Force]Fighter jets and personnel from the 71st Fighter Squadron, which is stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, are away in Nevada at the time of the 9/11 attacks, participating in the “Red Flag” training exercise, and only return to base about a week later. [Virginian-Pilot, 9/24/2001; 1st Fighter Association, 2003; Langley Air Force Base, 9/15/2006] Langley AFB is located 130 miles south of the Pentagon, and fighters from there are launched on 9/11 to protect Washington, DC (see (9:25 a.m.-9:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [USA Today, 9/16/2001; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 27] The “host unit” at the base is the 1st Fighter Wing, which includes the 71st Fighter Squadron and two other fighter squadrons: the 27th FS and the 94th FS. [Langley Air Force Base, 11/2003; GlobalSecurity (.org), 2/12/2006] The 71st FS includes about 25 pilots. Its members are participating in Red Flag in preparation for an expected deployment to Iraq this coming December. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 10/19/2001] Col. Thomas Bergeson, the commander of the 71st FS, will later recall, “We had most of our F-15s at Nellis” Air Force Base in Nevada, for the exercise. [Langley Air Force Base, 9/15/2006]
Red Flag - Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise, held four times a year at Nellis Air Force Base, involving the air forces of the US and its allies. [GlobalSecurity (.org), 10/19/2002; Arkin, 2005, pp. 476] Various aircraft are involved, and more than 100 pilots are participating in the current exercise. [Air Force Magazine, 11/2000; Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/22/2001] The exercise began on August 11 and ends on September 7. [Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/28/2001; Las Vegas Review-Journal, 8/22/2001] But the 71st FS pilots only fly their F-15s back to Langley AFB around September 17. [Virginian-Pilot, 9/24/2001]
The 71st Fighter Squadron - The mission of the 71st Fighter Squadron is “to maintain a combat-ready force able to conduct air-superiority operations anywhere in the world for the United States and its allies.” [Langley Air Force Base, 1/2005] Although Langley Air Force Base, where it is stationed, is one of the two “alert sites” upon which NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) can call to get jets quickly launched, NEADS’s alert fighters at the base do not belong to the 71st FS or either of the other two fighter squadrons of the 1st Fighter Wing. Instead, the two alert jets are part of a small detachment from Fargo, North Dakota’s 119th Fighter Wing, which is located on the opposite side of the runway to the central facilities of Langley AFB. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 17; Spencer, 2008, pp. 114] However, some F-15s belonging to the 71st FS are launched from Langley AFB on 9/11, following the attacks, to patrol the skies of the East Coast. Some of the 71st FS jets that are deployed to Nevada are the first fighters to get airborne to patrol Las Vegas and southern California in response to the attacks. [Langley Air Force Base, 1/2005; 1st Fighter Association, 3/14/2006]
Other Units Away on 9/11 - The 94th Fighter Squadron, which is also based at Langley AFB, is away on September 11 as well, for a 90-day combat deployment to Saudi Arabia to enforce the no-fly zone over southern Iraq (see September 2001). [BBC, 12/29/1998; 1st Fighter Association, 2003] Around this same time, members of the 121st Fighter Squadron of the District of Columbia Air National Guard (DCANG) also participate in Red Flag, and only return to their base three days before 9/11 (see Late August-September 8, 2001). [Washington Post, 4/8/2002; Spencer, 2008, pp. 156]

Logo of the Nuclear Emergency Search Team. [Source: Nuclear Emergency Search Team]Members of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) are away from America when it comes under terrorist attack, taking part in a training exercise in Europe called Jackal Cave. [Richelson, 2009, pp. 178; Jeffrey T. Richelson, 1/23/2009] Jackal Cave, which is run by the US military’s Joint Special Operations Command, involves participants tracking down a hypothetical force made up of terrorists and organized criminals who are trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, or “loose nukes” (see (8:46 a.m.-9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Naylor, 2015, pp. ix-x] Over 500 personnel, 62 aircraft, and 420 tons of cargo are involved in the exercise. [Arkin, 2005, pp. 404] Three components of NEST are taking part: the Lincoln Gold Augmentation Team, the Nuclear/Radiological Advisory Team, and the Joint Technical Operations Team. The NEST personnel are in Europe by September 10, if not before then, for the exercise. [Richelson, 2009, pp. 178] It is unclear where exactly in Europe they go, but some Special Operations personnel are in Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia for the exercise, so the NEST personnel may be in one or more of these countries too. [Naylor, 2015, pp. x]
Exercise Participants Are Flown Back to the US - Jackal Cave is promptly canceled in response to the attacks in the United States on September 11. [BBC News, 9/13/2001; Naylor, 2015, pp. xiii] NEST and Department of Energy personnel who are in Europe for the exercise are then taken home by military airlift. They are all back in America by September 15. [Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, 2001 ; Richelson, 2009, pp. 178]
Nuclear Search Team Is Put on Standby - Shortly after the attacks occur on September 11, NEST members (presumably those who are not involved in the exercise) are informed that they could potentially be called out for duty and told to be on standby. One NEST member will later say he received the instruction to be on standby sometime between around 10:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. on September 11. This alert is ordered as a precaution and is not in response to any specific nuclear threat, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. On September 12, NEST flies its specially equipped plane to New York to search for industrial radioactive sources and hot spots under the rubble of the World Trade Center. [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/16/2001; ABC News, 10/11/2005; Richelson, 2009, pp. 179-180]
Exercise Is the Team's First Overseas Deployment Since 1998 - NEST, which is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is “an elite band of scientists, engineers, computer experts, and technicians that would respond to terrorists armed with stolen or homemade nuclear weapons or radioactive materials,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The team has about 1,000 members who would, if necessary, be responsible for finding and disabling nuclear devices. [San Francisco Chronicle, 9/16/2001; Associated Press, 12/18/2001; Dumas, 2010, pp. 46] Its involvement in Jackal Cave is its first participation in an overseas exercise since 1998. [Richelson, 2009, pp. 178; Jeffrey T. Richelson, 1/23/2009]

Dell Dailey. [Source: US Department of State]Members of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC)—the nation’s “top counterterrorism unit”—are away from America when it comes under terrorist attack, participating in a training exercise in Hungary. [Naylor, 2015, pp. ix-x; Newsweek, 9/11/2015] The highly classified exercise, called Jackal Cave, is one of several joint readiness exercises that JSOC conducts each year. It is part of a larger exercise, called Ellipse Bravo, run by the US military’s European Command (see (After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Arkin, 2005, pp. 358-359; Naylor, 2015, pp. ix] Jackal Cave involves participants tracking down a hypothetical hybrid force made up of terrorists and elements of international organized crime who are trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. “We were tracking ‘terrorists,’” a JSOC staff officer will later comment. “[A]nd then [we’d] bring an assault element in to take the target down.” Details of the mock terrorists in the exercise are unclear, but they are not Islamists, according to journalist and author Sean Naylor. [Naylor, 2015, pp. x, 441]
JSOC and Delta Force Are Participating in the Exercise - Jackal Cave involves over 500 personnel, 62 aircraft, and 420 tons of cargo. [Arkin, 2005, pp. 404] Hundreds of JSOC personnel are taking part. [Naylor, 2015, pp. 85] JSOC, based at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina, is responsible for conducting the US military’s most sensitive counterterrorism missions. [New York Times, 9/3/2002; GlobalSecurity (.org), 6/24/2013] Its headquarters for the exercise is divided between Taszár Air Base, about 120 miles southwest of Budapest, Hungary, and Tuzla, Bosnia. A squadron from the US Army’s Delta Force is also participating in the exercise. [Fury, 2008, pp. 56; Saratogian, 9/10/2011; Naylor, 2015, pp. x] Delta Force is designed to be an overseas counterterrorist unit and specializes in hostage rescue, barricade operations, and reconnaissance. [GlobalSecurity (.org), 6/24/2013] Its personnel are trained in dealing with terrorist situations in buildings and hijacked aircraft, among other things. [Discovery Channel, 12/1/2001; Haney, 2002, pp. 213; Schading and Schading, 2006, pp. 156]
Mock Terrorists Are Played by US Military Personnel - Others taking part in Jackal Cave include members of the US Army’s 10th Special Forces Group, members of the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Emergency Search Team (see (September 10-15, 2001)), and some Hungarian military elements. [Richelson, 2009, pp. 178; Jeffrey T. Richelson, 1/23/2009; Naylor, 2015, pp. x] The terrorists in the exercise are being played by operatives from the Defense HUMINT Service—the US Defense Department’s clandestine spy network. Members of the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six are also taking part and are in the port of Dubrovnik, Croatia, from where the hypothetical enemy is trying to ship nuclear material out on a boat. The SEALs are going to be flown by helicopter to assault the boat in the Mediterranean Ocean.
JSOC Commander Learns of the Attacks in the US and Cancels the Exercise - At the time the attacks on the World Trade Center take place, Jackal Cave has barely started. One or two Delta Force staffers and some operatives with the Operational Support Troop—Delta Force’s in-house intelligence arm—are out tracking the mock terrorists through downtown Budapest. Meanwhile, Major General Dell Dailey, head of JSOC, is at the US embassy in Budapest, where he has been briefing senior officials on the exercise. He learns about the attacks on the WTC after leaving the briefing with his senior enlisted adviser, Army Command Sergeant Major Mike Hall. Major Jim Reese, a Delta Force officer, sees the coverage of the burning Twin Towers on television and then runs after the two men. He tells Dailey, “Hey sir, you need to see this.” Dailey quickly walks to his operations center at the embassy and sees the coverage of the attacks on TV. He then answers a phone call from his boss, Air Force General Charles Holland, head of US Special Operations Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Holland tells him to abandon the exercise and return to the US as quickly as possible. After hanging up, Dailey turns to Reese and Lieutenant Colonel Scott Miller, another Delta Force officer, and says he is canceling the exercise immediately and returning to the US, and they should get back to the US too. However, as America’s airspace is closed to international commercial flights for several days following today’s attacks, it will take almost a week for the JSOC personnel who are in Europe for the exercise to return to America. [Naylor, 2015, pp. ix-xiii, 85]

Tom Greer. [Source: CBS News]Members of Delta Force, the US Army’s elite counterterrorist unit, who are in Hungary for a training exercise receive numerous false reports of attacks that have supposedly occurred in the United States and it takes two days before they have an accurate picture of what the terrorist attacks in the US involved. [Fury, 2008, pp. 56-59] Hundreds of US military personnel are in Europe for a major exercise called Jackal Cave. This exercise, run by the Joint Special Operations Command, involves participants tracking down mock terrorists and organized criminals who are supposedly trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (see (8:46 a.m.-9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). Many personnel who are involved in Jackal Cave have been settling into their temporary headquarters for the exercise, at the end of a taxiway at Taszár Air Base in Hungary. A Delta Force squadron that is participating in the exercise is housed in a couple of tents there. [Arkin, 2005, pp. 404; Naylor, 2015, pp. ix-xi]
Delta Force Officers Didn't Think the First Crash Was Terrorism - Tom Greer, a Delta Force officer, learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center while preparing for the exercise. His squadron operations sergeant, who he will later refer to only as “Bart,” came into his tent to relay some information to him and his squadron operations officer, “Super D.” While there, Bart casually mentioned, “Hey, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.” Greer and Super D initially gave little thought to the news. “[N]o one was considering that terrorists might… be behind this new situation,” Greer will write. However, minutes later, Bart returned to the tent with a look of disbelief on his face and said: “Another plane just crashed into the other Trade Center building. Now they think it’s terrorists!” Greer and Super D went to their tactical operations center (TOC) to see if the television was on there, so they could watch the coverage of the attacks. The TOC, Greer will describe, was “wall to wall… with concerned soldiers, staff officers, commanders, [Army] Rangers, Army helicopter pilots, Air Force officers, and a few Delta [Force] operators.” Everyone there was watching CNN and trying to make sense of what was happening in the US.
Intelligence Updates Include Many False Reports - After a time, Greer and Super D return to their tent. There, intelligence analysts post hourly updates of what has happened in the US. However, the updates include numerous reports of incidents that never occurred. These alleged incidents, according to Greer, include an American F-15 fighter jet deliberately shooting down an airliner—American Airlines Flight 1089—over the Atlantic Ocean; an F-15 shooting down an airliner—Delta Air Lines Flight 766—over northwest Virginia; and an F-16 fighter following an airliner—United Airlines Flight 283—that is believed to be heading toward Washington, DC, and is not responding to communications. The F-16’s pilot is authorized to use “lethal force” if the airliner reaches US airspace. Additionally, the updates report that the Capitol building and the White House have been hit by jumbo jets, and are both on fire.
Updates Record 13 Hijackings - By the morning of September 12, the updates have included reports of 13 airliners being hijacked. Of these, four airliners were supposedly shot down over land or water by American fighters while the other nine airliners supposedly hit targets in New York and Washington. Greer and his colleagues only gain an accurate picture of what the 9/11 attacks involved on September 13. Greer will state why he thinks they initially received so much incorrect information, writing, “Miscommunication, manifested in multiple reports by various news agencies of the same event, the jammed telephone lines and cell towers bulging from maximum usage, and the fact we were on the other side of the world had contributed to the fantastic and inaccurate reports.” [Fury, 2008, pp. 57-60]

According to Graham Allison, a Harvard professor and expert on national security issues, the Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST), the agency that investigates nuclear threats (see (September 10-15, 2001)), is sent to New York City following an intelligence report that al-Qaeda may have smuggled a nuclear device into that city. The CIA has received a report from a source code-named Dragonfire that the terrorist organization has obtained a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon from the former Soviet Union. During the search for the weapon, Vice President Dick Cheney and several hundred federal employees are relocated to a secure underground bunker. No weapon is found. [Los Angeles Times, 9/19/2004; Blueprint Magazine, 10/7/2004]