Stay vigilant during 9/11 anniversary Published Sept. 9, 2011 By Donna Smith Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Antiterrorism Office JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The early morning attacks of 9/11 claimed the lives of 2,976 people. These coordinated suicide attacks involved 19 al-Qaeda operatives who hijacked four U.S. commercial passenger jet airliners and crashed them into three of four intended targets including the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Reports indicate the fourth target was the U.S. Capitol building, however, the hijacked plane intended to strike the Capitol crashed before reaching Washington. At 8:46 a.m., terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 and crashed the plane into the North Tower of the WTC. Less than 20 minutes later, a second group of hijackers flew United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower. Within hours, both towers, along with a third building in the complex, collapsed from the resulting structural damage. At 9:37 a.m., a third group of hijackers flew American Airlines Flight 77 into the west side of the Pentagon. After learning about the attacks on the WTC, passengers and crew aboard the fourth hijacked airliner, United Airlines Flight 93, fought back and caused the airplane to crash into a field near Shanksville, PA at 10:03 a.m. Within hours of initiating their investigation, the FBI identified the hijackers and subsequent investigation found al-Qaeda responsible for planning and executing the attacks. What have we learned? -Terrorists are willing to use any and all methods to carry out attacks within the United States. -The terrorist target selection of the Pentagon, U.S. Capitol building and the World Trade Center reflects the desire to strike fear by attacking the heart of America's power, government and global economic and financial strength. -Heavily populated buildings present high pay-off targets. -The clandestine operations and cellular structure of some terrorist groups makes identification, detection and prevention of an attack extremely difficult. What should we continue to do? - Realize U.S. military personnel, their families and facilities, both at home and abroad, remain attractive targets for terrorists. - Make antiterrorism awareness a part of every servicemember's daily routine in order to maintain a defensive posture commensurate with the terrorist threat for the specific area of operation. - Assess and disseminate, as appropriate, all threat information to assist organizations and facilities to understand imminent risks. -Increase Random Antiterrorism Measures present a visible, defensive posture to discourage terrorist groups from selecting the location as a potential target. Everyone on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst can do their part by addressing their focus of the war on terrorism starting with vigilance, awareness, reporting and operations security. If something is suspicious, report it.