Operations Center. [40] (Lance Lord, for example, is reported to have gone to the Operations Center after the Pentagon was hit. [41]) But surely, when the meeting ended, these officers, like Jumper, should have simply stayed in the Operations Center, where they would presumably have been in the ideal location to respond to the ongoing attacks.

THE AIR FORCE WORKED WITH NORAD AND THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION TO RESPOND TO THE ATTACKS

The alarmingly slow response of these top Air Force officials to the 9/11 attacks is particularly notable considering the important role the Air Force had to play on September 11. Although the Air Force's leaders were "not the command authority" that day, according to Air Force Magazine, with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) primarily responsible foroperational control of the situation, Air Force personnel clearly seem to have been engaged in important activities in response to the attacks. [42]

For example, after the second hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center, the Air Force Operations Center was reportedly "a flurry of activity as Air Force officials worked to gather information, both from the media and from their own intelligence sources." [43] James Roche has recalled that after they arrived at the Operations Center, he and John Jumper tried to "hook up" with NORAD. [44] And the Air Force CAT coordinated with NORAD to put fighter jets on alert in Alaska and Hawaii. It also worked with the Federal Aviation Administration to monitor flight activity over the continental United States. [45]

Furthermore, a representative from the