Retired Air Force Lt. General Mike Gould was the commander of the Cheyenne Mountain Operation Center on September 11th, 2001. He was headed to work inside the mountain in Colorado Springs when the first plane flew into the World Trade Center.
“I get into the command center and most of the news initially was coming off the television reports showing the smoke in downtown New York and the team was rallying to try to learn as much as they could,” Gould said. “We knew pretty early that there was a coordinated attack and then, of course, when the second plane hit it became evident.”
The daily mission for the 300-400 people working there was to provide warnings for any attacks.
“We had an air warning center, a missile warning center, and a space warning center,” he said. “Our job was to, using a network of sensors around the globe whenever any event happened, advise the commander of NORAD, U.S. Space Command and Air Force Space Command, which at the time was was one person General Ed Eberhart, advise him and the National Command Authority on what was happening and what, if any, actions we should be taking.”