310th observes 9/11 10th anniversary with Buckley, Schriever ceremonies

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Cindy East
  • 310th Space Wing Public Affairs
SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  310th Space Wing northern units observe 9/11 10th anniversary

On Sept. 11, 2011, it was a clear and sunny day along the Front Range, much the same as on the eastern seaboard 10 years ago today, as members from the 310th Space Wing at Buckley and Schriever Air Force Bases gathered to remember this generation's Pearl Harbor.

Whether in Washington state or Washington D.C., all Americans were impacted by the events of Sept. 11. The memories of that day are still as vivid today as 10 years ago. Sept. 11 has shaped and changed our lives in innumerable ways.

At Buckley Air Force Base, Staff Sgt. Conrad Jones, 310th Force Support Squadron Unit Training Manager and Junior Enlisted Council member, along with Tech. Sgt David Smith, 310th FSS commander's support staff and newly elected JEC president represented the brainstorming force behind the 9/11 memorial ceremonies held there.

"This was a group effort that morphed from trying to find a particular speaker to realizing many people had stories which we could weave into a tapestry of short stories," said Jones.

Buckley's program began with a luncheon held in the 310th Mission Support Group supply bay. The luncheon, which raised money for the JEC, was followed by a DVD presented by 310th SW Chaplain (Col.) Bob Leivers. The DVD entitled, Images of Remembrance, was a 9/11 photo montage set to Bruce Springsteen's song, My City's in Ruin.

The event culminated with a discussion panel comprised of Col. Todd Laughman, 310th MSG commander, Chief Master Sgt. Judy Schwald, 310th FSS superintendent, Capt. Tracy Maestes, 310th MSG executive officer, Staff Sgt. Aleena Floyd, 310th FSS, and Jones moderating the discussion between the audience and panel members.

Those planning the event set out to achieve three primary objectives between panelists and audience members:

"The first goal is to remind everyone how this event impacted everybody, and how everybody was in a different place, but it's something we all have in common now," said Jones. "There might be some people who are still hurting about it, some people who are unsure how they feel about it and some young people who don't know much about it at all."

The second objective focused on raising member's situational awareness about the ramifications of a similar incident occurring today.

"This base was on lock-down, and they didn't let people, including civilians, go home," said Jones. "They had to find food and places for people to stay. Many traditional Reservists don't have any idea what it was like when 9/11 happened, so we want to ask people what they think would happen to them if the event were to occur today."

"The final objective is to focus on the positives that came out of it," Jones explained. "It's a powerful event that changed who we are. I want to focus on how we've prevailed, how strong we are, and how resilient we've become."

Smith was on active duty at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., when 9/11 unfolded and he, like so many others, sat and watched, stunned at what he was viewing. He immediately went on a 24-hour operations schedule.

Smith's father, who was career military, was one of his primary motivators for joining the Air Force Reserve, but for Smith, Sept. 11 drove home what being in the military was truly all about.

"(Being in the military) became real to me," said Smith.

Senior Airman Tabitha Morrison was 10 years old and in 5th grade when 9/11 occurred. Morrison, the youngest member of the 310th MSG, like millions of others saw 9/11 as a calling to join the military.

310th Space Wing southern units observe 9/11 10th anniversary

Later in the day, 310th SW members at Schriever Air Force Base commemorated the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a remembrance service at the close of the unit training assembly.

Leivers led the service, assisted by the chaplain assistants Master Sgt. Maria Orgeta and Staff Sgt. Justin Balch.

Lt. Col. Marc Rathmann, 310th Space Wing Commander's Action Group, shared his experiences as a United Airlines pilot who was in the air at the time of the attacks. He was a first officer on a flight with an early morning departure from Atlanta to Denver and was already en route on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when American Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center Tower 1.

"It was a beautiful day across the whole U.S., but we kept getting strange messages on our on-board computer," said Rathmann. "One said to check our cockpit door and given that we didn't know what was occurring, it sure seemed like an out of place message.

"Next, we received a message that we needed to check and see if our flight attendants were doing okay, which raised our curiosity, and we began to hear from air traffic control that they were initiating a nation-wide ground stop."

Neither Rathmann nor the 35-year-veteran captain of the flight had ever heard of such a thing. When they asked ATC what was going on, they were told that an airplane had hit the World Trade Center. Thinking that it was a mishap involving a private pilot, they commented to each other how instrument flying was difficult for lots of private pilots.

"We were shocked when we pulled up the weather for New York City and it was clear with unlimited visibility," said Rathmann. "We commented that the private pilot must have had a heart attack. We never dreamed it was a United Airlines plane."

They landed in Denver about 45 minutes later and found the airport in chaos. The captain immediately tuned into an AM radio station, while Rathmann talked to ground control, and they began to hear the horrific events that had transpired. Just as they arrived at United Flight Operations, the first tower began to fall.

"September 11th was truly a powerful, emotional event for me - it was a life changer," said Rathmann. "I had just gone into the Inactive Ready Reserve and my second thought, after thinking about my wife and family not being able to get a hold of me was, 'How can I get back into the fight?'"

After three months of paperwork, Rathmann was back in the Air Force Reserve and joined the War on Terrorism, currently as part of the 310th SW Commander's Action Group.

The service concluded with 19 SOPS Master Sgt. James Crosbie playing Taps.