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As evidence of the important and unique research the 9/11 Timeline does, check out the following three recently added entries. The first describes a little-known and mysterious meeting between Vice President Dick Cheney and his close confidant Sean O'Keefe, that took place around the time the attacks were beginning on September 11. Both men now claim they cannot remember what they discussed. Yet at the time, their meeting was so urgent that it caused Cheney to significantly delay a scheduled appointment. The other two entries describe events at Andrews Air Force Base, which is located ten miles southeast of Washington, DC. A lieutenant colonel there has claimed that many pilots "launched into action" after seeing TV coverage of the second WTC tower being hit. Yet, inexplicably, the first fighter jets did not take off from Andrews until 95 minutes later.

(8:25 a.m.-8:50 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director Speaks with Cheney Neither Can Later Recall What They Discuss
Sean O'Keefe, the deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, stops by Vice President Dick Cheney's White House office for an unscheduled visit. According to journalist and author Stephen Hayes, Cheney's colleagues have learned to keep any impromptu sessions with him short and succinct. Yet O'Keefe spends more than 20 minutes with the vice president. Cheney is scheduled to meet John McConnell, his chief speechwriter, at 8:30 a.m. Yet McConnell is left waiting outside the office while the vice president is deep in discussion with O'Keefe. According to Hayes, while the topic of O'Keefe and Cheney's conversation seems urgent at present, "In time, neither man would be able to recall what it was that had been so important." [Hayes, 2007, pp. 328-330] O'Keefe is a former Pentagon comptroller, and had been a close confidant of Dick Cheney's when he was the secretary of defense, in the early 1990s. He was also secretary of the navy from 1992 to 1993. [New York Times, 7/7/1992; New York Times, 2/3/2003]
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(9:04 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Andrews Air Force Base Pilots 'Launched Into Action,' Yet No Fighters Take Off
At Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, many of the pilots with the District of Columbia Air National Guard (DCANG) are in the headquarters of the 121st Fighter Squadron. They had immediately been suspicious after learning of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. One pilot, Heather Penney, later recalls having wondered, "How do you make a mistake like that?" After the second plane hits at 9:03, someone yells, "We're under a terrorist attack!" A routine meeting of pilots quickly breaks up. According to Lt. Col. Steve Chase, who is at the operations desk, "People just launched into action. There was a buzz in the unit. People got on the radio and telephones to higher headquarters." [Washington Post, 4/8/2002] Andrews Air Force Base, which is home to the presidential jet Air Force One, is located ten miles southeast of Washington, DC. [GlobalSecurity (.org), 11/15/2001] According to Knight Ridder, "Air defense around Washington, DC, is provided mainly by fighter planes from Andrews." [Knight Ridder, 9/11/2001] Yet the first fighters to take off from Andrews are not airborne until 95 minutes later, at 10:38 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 44] The DC Air National Guard's 113th Wing includes the 121st Fighter Squadron and the 201st Airlift Squadron. It flies the F16-C and F16-D Fighting Falcon jet fighters. [GlobalSecurity (.org), 10/21/2001; Washington Post, 11/5/2004] Unlike other Guard units, the DCANG reports to the president, instead of a state governor. The 113th Wing works closely with Secret Service agents who are across the runway in the Air Force One hangar. [Washington Post, 4/8/2002; Vogel, 2007, pp. 445]
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(Shortly After 9:39 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Andrews Commander Reacts to News of Pentagon Attack, Yet Doesn't Want Fighters Launched Without Further Instructions
Brigadier General David Wherley, the commander of the DC Air National Guard, is in the headquarters of the 113th Wing at Andrews Air Force Base, ten miles southeast of Washington, DC. Reportedly, his "first inkling that the attacks would go beyond New York was when one of his officers, whose husband worked at the Pentagon, saw on television that the building had been hit and began shrieking." After briefly comforting the woman, he dashes from the building and runs several hundred yards across the base to the headquarters of the DC Air National Guard's 121st Fighter Squadron. Unlike other Guard units, the DC Air National Guard reports to the president, rather than a state governor. Squadron officers, who work closely with Secret Service agents at the Air Force One hangar at Andrews, have already been told by their contacts that the White House wants fighters launched (see (After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). However, Wherley says he wants more explicit authorization. He tells the officers, "We have to get instructions. We can't just fly off half-cocked." The first fighters to take off from Andrews are not launched until 10:38 and 10:42 a.m. (see (10:38 a.m.) and (10:42 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Washington Post, 4/8/2002; Vogel, 2007, pp. 445-446]
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