WEBVTT 00:08.140 --> 00:11.390 On September 6 , 2001 . A significant 00:11.390 --> 00:13.390 event took place in the Air Force . 00:13.930 --> 00:16.097 That was the day , General john jumper 00:16.097 --> 00:18.152 took the reins as Air Force Chief of 00:18.152 --> 00:20.590 staff . Only five days later , the 00:20.590 --> 00:22.646 pentagon like the World Trade Center 00:22.646 --> 00:24.930 was hit by a plane being used as a 00:24.930 --> 00:27.040 missile . You know , being here that 00:27.040 --> 00:29.151 day makes you feel like you were part 00:29.151 --> 00:31.770 of history . I was up in the middle of 00:31.770 --> 00:33.760 my very first staff meeting and 00:34.240 --> 00:35.907 actually in the middle of the 00:35.907 --> 00:37.573 intelligence briefing and the 00:37.573 --> 00:39.629 intelligence briefer said sir , I've 00:39.629 --> 00:41.950 just been told we've that an airplane 00:41.950 --> 00:45.120 has hit one of the trade center towers 00:45.120 --> 00:47.231 in new york city . We're gonna switch 00:47.231 --> 00:49.190 to CNN . And about that time we 00:49.600 --> 00:52.810 switched over and the news commentator 00:52.810 --> 00:55.670 was talking about how the airplane hit 00:55.670 --> 00:57.448 the building but it looked like 00:57.448 --> 00:59.670 somebody may have been off course going 00:59.670 --> 01:01.892 into laguardia . And uh of course there 01:01.892 --> 01:03.948 were a table full of airmen there at 01:03.948 --> 01:05.948 that conference table who looked at 01:05.948 --> 01:08.059 that dark blue sky on CNN and we knew 01:08.059 --> 01:09.781 right away that it it wasn't a 01:09.781 --> 01:11.892 navigation mistake , it was something 01:11.892 --> 01:14.114 more profound than that . I went to the 01:14.114 --> 01:16.337 Secretary of the Air Force's office and 01:16.337 --> 01:18.580 uh got him out of his office and as we 01:18.580 --> 01:20.636 were departing his office actually , 01:20.636 --> 01:22.747 the airplane hit the others this side 01:22.747 --> 01:24.802 of the pentagon where we're standing 01:24.802 --> 01:26.913 here today . So we went on downstairs 01:26.913 --> 01:29.130 to the Air Force uh command center and 01:29.140 --> 01:31.140 we got started on what needed to be 01:31.140 --> 01:33.029 done . The nation pays us to be a 01:33.029 --> 01:35.420 professional service . We are 01:35.420 --> 01:37.420 professional group of airmen and we 01:37.420 --> 01:39.531 have to take a very sober look at our 01:39.531 --> 01:41.753 responsibilities when every instinct in 01:41.753 --> 01:43.864 this tells us , we just gotta get mad 01:43.864 --> 01:45.920 about this . Of course you get angry 01:45.940 --> 01:48.780 but I I will never forget . Right after 01:48.780 --> 01:52.170 9 11 , I was invited out to the uh to 01:52.170 --> 01:54.392 the seventh game of the world series in 01:54.392 --> 01:56.392 Arizona and there was a young woman 01:56.392 --> 01:58.559 there whose husband had been killed in 01:58.559 --> 02:00.670 one of the trade centers . She had no 02:00.670 --> 02:02.337 affiliation with the military 02:02.337 --> 02:04.559 whatsoever , but I got a chance to meet 02:04.559 --> 02:06.614 her and I will never forget . Uh she 02:06.614 --> 02:08.392 put her arms around my neck and 02:08.392 --> 02:10.392 whispered in my ear , you get those 02:10.392 --> 02:14.000 guys , that's all the emotion that I 02:14.000 --> 02:16.610 needed at the time to get me and 02:16.620 --> 02:19.520 everything that was in my power uh to 02:19.530 --> 02:21.752 get over there and start taking care of 02:21.752 --> 02:23.974 business and we did . And she's the one 02:23.974 --> 02:26.141 I thought of the day that we got Osama 02:26.141 --> 02:28.308 bin laden general jumper served as the 02:28.308 --> 02:30.474 Air Force Chief of Staff for more than 02:30.474 --> 02:32.586 four years throughout the invasion of 02:32.586 --> 02:34.474 Afghanistan . Seeing through many 02:34.474 --> 02:36.586 important technological and personnel 02:36.586 --> 02:38.697 changes that so profoundly impact the 02:38.697 --> 02:41.420 Air force and Air men today as he looks 02:41.420 --> 02:43.410 back 10 years , he sees a lot of 02:43.410 --> 02:45.466 success as the Air force has evolved 02:45.466 --> 02:47.688 into more than just the world's premier 02:47.688 --> 02:49.854 fighting force but into a game changer 02:49.854 --> 02:51.799 in the battlefield and on the home 02:51.799 --> 02:53.966 front , the Air force has changed by a 02:53.966 --> 02:56.077 lot of things . Certainly the optempo 02:56.077 --> 02:58.299 out there has changed the Air Force and 02:58.299 --> 02:58.290 the way we live . But I think we had 02:58.290 --> 03:00.290 the right structure in place to put 03:00.290 --> 03:01.890 with the structure to put 03:01.890 --> 03:04.057 predictability into the into the lives 03:04.057 --> 03:06.112 of people who never had it before on 03:06.112 --> 03:08.112 deployment cycles . I think we have 03:08.112 --> 03:10.168 learned to deploy forward and fit in 03:10.168 --> 03:12.390 better as a joint partner in in forward 03:12.390 --> 03:14.334 locations . We have brought aboard 03:14.334 --> 03:16.334 unmanned air vehicles and made them 03:16.334 --> 03:18.446 apart . A vital part of of what we do 03:18.446 --> 03:20.612 uh day in and day out . We've taken on 03:20.612 --> 03:22.900 technology in the whole world of 03:22.910 --> 03:25.640 precision guided munitions of uh of the 03:25.640 --> 03:27.473 next generation high performance 03:27.473 --> 03:29.960 aircraft of networks and the like all 03:29.960 --> 03:31.849 of these things are technological 03:31.849 --> 03:34.071 advances that the Air Force by its very 03:34.071 --> 03:36.470 nature accommodates quite easily . 03:36.480 --> 03:39.380 We're a high tech outfit by our very by 03:39.380 --> 03:42.000 very very definition . But you know 03:42.000 --> 03:44.056 what the airman in the United States 03:44.056 --> 03:46.750 Air Force are no less dedicated two 03:47.210 --> 03:49.860 service to commitment to patriotism to 03:50.240 --> 03:52.129 to serving their country than any 03:52.129 --> 03:54.351 generation of airmen that ever served . 03:54.351 --> 03:56.450 The people are motivated by the same 03:56.460 --> 03:58.950 basic values that make this country as 03:58.950 --> 04:00.894 strong as it as it is and that has 04:00.894 --> 04:03.117 never changed . And I was proud to be a 04:03.117 --> 04:05.339 part of it then . And to the extent I'm 04:05.339 --> 04:07.561 allowed to continue . I'm proud to be a 04:07.561 --> 04:09.450 part of it today dealing with the 04:09.450 --> 04:11.450 aftermath of the 9 11 attacks would 04:11.450 --> 04:13.617 turn out to define not only the career 04:13.617 --> 04:15.894 of the Air Force's most senior officer , 04:15.894 --> 04:18.061 but the course of a U . S . Presidency 04:18.061 --> 04:20.228 as well . Colonel Mark Tillman had the 04:20.228 --> 04:22.394 honor of piloting Air Force one during 04:22.394 --> 04:24.450 George W Bush's time as Commander in 04:24.450 --> 04:26.283 chief . But on september 11th he 04:26.283 --> 04:28.339 regarded himself just like any other 04:28.339 --> 04:30.490 airmen with a job to do . I was lucky 04:30.490 --> 04:34.160 enough to actually be looked at and I 04:34.160 --> 04:36.216 went and flew with the Air Force One 04:36.216 --> 04:38.382 guys . They went ahead and selected me 04:38.382 --> 04:40.382 to be one of their augment T . So I 04:40.382 --> 04:42.327 started out as a co pilot with Air 04:42.327 --> 04:44.438 Force One and slowly worked my way up 04:44.438 --> 04:46.604 To select the presidential pilot , the 04:46.604 --> 04:46.410 White House Military Office . They go 04:46.410 --> 04:48.521 ahead and put together a package from 04:48.521 --> 04:50.688 the air force . The Air Force provides 04:50.688 --> 04:52.799 names to the White House and then the 04:52.799 --> 04:54.910 White House makes the decision . So I 04:54.910 --> 04:56.410 was selected when the Bush 04:56.410 --> 04:58.521 administration came into office to go 04:58.521 --> 05:00.688 ahead and be the 12 presidential pilot 05:00.688 --> 05:02.966 under President Bush . on September 11 . 05:02.966 --> 05:05.077 We went ahead and had planned to take 05:05.077 --> 05:07.354 the president back to Washington D . C . 05:07.354 --> 05:09.521 Uh we're sitting in Sarasota florida . 05:09.521 --> 05:11.577 We could see everything unfolding on 05:11.577 --> 05:13.577 television . The uh the first plane 05:13.577 --> 05:15.632 that hits the tower . This basically 05:15.632 --> 05:17.743 then you can see the second plane hit 05:17.743 --> 05:19.632 the Tower and then the this staff 05:19.632 --> 05:21.743 starts getting into gear advising the 05:21.743 --> 05:24.260 president what is going on . I'm just I 05:24.260 --> 05:26.482 have to assume the worst . I assume the 05:26.482 --> 05:28.760 President was about to be under attack . 05:28.760 --> 05:31.093 So we got everything ready at the plane . 05:31.093 --> 05:32.927 We got him , there's numerous uh 05:32.927 --> 05:35.093 emergency action plans to take care of 05:35.093 --> 05:37.204 the President . So we had to go ahead 05:37.204 --> 05:37.140 and start putting those plans into 05:37.140 --> 05:39.307 effect to make sure that everybody was 05:39.307 --> 05:41.418 ready to accept the President and get 05:41.418 --> 05:43.640 him where he needed to go . You have to 05:43.640 --> 05:45.862 assume that anything that you were told 05:45.862 --> 05:47.696 was an actual threat against the 05:47.696 --> 05:49.751 president . Simple things man at the 05:49.751 --> 05:51.862 end of the runway with a video camera 05:51.862 --> 05:54.029 um couldn't tell what he was or why he 05:54.029 --> 05:55.918 was there but he came at the last 05:55.918 --> 05:58.084 second . So we just had to assume that 05:58.084 --> 05:57.920 it was some kind of plot against the 05:57.920 --> 05:59.980 President . So we countered it by 05:59.990 --> 06:01.768 taking off opposite direction , 06:01.768 --> 06:03.934 climbing steep above the gentleman and 06:03.934 --> 06:06.212 getting out of Sarasota rather quickly . 06:06.212 --> 06:08.770 Um subsequently we got told that Air 06:08.770 --> 06:11.550 Force one would be next and we had to 06:11.550 --> 06:14.280 counter that not really sure what the 06:14.280 --> 06:16.447 plan was . So at that point we started 06:16.447 --> 06:18.613 heading out into the gulf of Mexico to 06:18.613 --> 06:20.724 make sure we could keep them safe and 06:20.724 --> 06:22.947 get them away from the airliner traffic 06:22.947 --> 06:25.002 shortly after the President made the 06:25.002 --> 06:26.947 decision , he wanted to get on the 06:26.947 --> 06:29.169 ground so we could talk to the american 06:29.169 --> 06:30.891 people . Um My thought process 06:30.891 --> 06:33.002 throughout the whole thing was to get 06:33.002 --> 06:34.947 him to an air force base with high 06:34.947 --> 06:36.891 security . We could land and get I 06:36.891 --> 06:39.058 could have all the capabilities I ever 06:39.058 --> 06:41.113 needed an Air Force one . He had all 06:41.113 --> 06:43.224 his top leadership with him so he had 06:43.224 --> 06:45.391 the ability to connect with any of the 06:45.391 --> 06:47.502 military leadership which he did . He 06:47.502 --> 06:49.669 had his Chief of staff with him and Mr 06:49.669 --> 06:51.836 Card , the Secret Service , everything 06:51.836 --> 06:53.947 was on board self contained package . 06:53.947 --> 06:53.280 So he could make a lot of great 06:53.280 --> 06:55.391 decisions on board and that's what he 06:55.391 --> 06:57.558 was doing . He wasn't running scared , 06:57.558 --> 06:59.669 he was making great decisions for the 06:59.669 --> 07:01.836 country . On the way back , things had 07:01.836 --> 07:03.558 settled down . By that point , 07:03.558 --> 07:05.447 everybody was working on what the 07:05.447 --> 07:07.558 President was going to say that night 07:07.558 --> 07:09.780 to address the american people and what 07:09.780 --> 07:09.340 our plan of attack was in the future . 07:09.340 --> 07:11.340 Kind of lining people up to get him 07:11.340 --> 07:13.507 into the White House once he landed um 07:13.540 --> 07:15.484 Our job on Air Force one was to go 07:15.484 --> 07:17.651 ahead and make sure the package on the 07:17.651 --> 07:19.651 ground was ready to take him , keep 07:19.651 --> 07:21.818 them secure , hand them off the marine 07:21.818 --> 07:23.762 one and then go ahead and keep our 07:23.762 --> 07:25.818 aircraft and people secure as well . 07:25.818 --> 07:28.040 You know , every everything I did , I I 07:28.040 --> 07:30.151 know that I'm getting a lot of credit 07:30.151 --> 07:32.262 for things that occurred on Air Force 07:32.262 --> 07:34.429 One , but it wasn't me , you know , it 07:34.429 --> 07:34.280 was leading a group of people , I was 07:34.280 --> 07:36.391 kind of the figurehead but you know , 07:36.391 --> 07:38.447 there were 300 folks that worked Air 07:38.447 --> 07:40.669 Force One but more important there were 07:40.669 --> 07:42.891 thousands of military that supported us 07:42.891 --> 07:44.947 day in day out to keep the president 07:44.947 --> 07:47.002 safe . That , you know , they're the 07:47.002 --> 07:49.113 ones that should be getting a big pat 07:49.113 --> 07:51.113 on the back and the big hug because 07:51.113 --> 07:53.224 they did everything perfect to make , 07:53.224 --> 07:53.410 make it look seamless for all of us .