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002/003

UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

5OOO DEFENSE PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 2O3O1-5OOO OCT 1 4 2003

INTELLIGENCE
MEMORANDUM FOR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL
COMMISSION ON TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON
THE UNITED STATES

Dear Phil:

As a follow up to my September 8 memorandum to you, I am providing a

status update on the document categories identified in the August 26, 2003
memorandum from the General Counsel of the Commission.

1. Document Request 4 (Items 1 through 16 to the extent not already

produced)

The Commission has received all available documents responsive to these

Items, including Items 4-6 and 4-7. NORAD-generated responsive materials for
Items 4-6 and 4-7 were delivered to the Commission on September 12.

On September 17, the Commission General Counsel forwarded a

supplemental document request (request #7). It has been worked aggressively by
NORAD, and all existing documents will be provided to the Commission no later
than October 27. Your staff also requested (through e-mail correspondence last
month) additional NORAD after-action reports, to include interviews that may have
been conducted with NORAD personnel on-duty on 9/1/01. NORAD has submitted
several after-action reports to us, and we expect them to be delivered to you by
October 27.

Regarding the supplemental request for a transcript of the 9/11 NOIWON

conference call initiated by CIA, multiple searches were conducted but no recording
has been found. NSA did provide two 9/11/01 NOIWON record sheets to the
Commission on September 17.

2. Document Request 6 (Items 1, 2, 4)

Materials responsive to this request continue to be consolidated, reviewed,

and processed. Numerous White House and National Security Council-originated
documents responsive to Item 1 have been processed and turned over to the
 xG 13=24 P.003/003

\t of Justice. Additional documents responsive to Items 2, 3, and 4

continue to be processed and reviewed. A first set of documents responsive to

Items 2 and 3 was delivered to the Commission on October 10. We expect other
sets of documents to be delivered within the next two weeks. These deliveries are
in addition to several other deliveries of related materials responsive to Document
Request #6, beginning in August.

Our DoD components continue to forward documents. Some document sets

contain products from other agencies; a separate index is being developed for these
products and we continue to coordinate with those agencies. Other materials
forwarded by components appear not to be in direct response to your request ~ but
may be of interest to the Commission. These documents also will be indexed and
made available for the Commission to review.

DoD Document Request #9 has also been of high-priority interest to the

Commission staff. On October 6, the Commission was granted access to the
electronic files and hard copy products of the DoD Criminal Investigation Task
Force database.

My staff continues to expedite the collection and processing of any remaining

DoD documents. We have recently added three additional persons to the review
team to assist with processing and coordination of DoD Document Request #6. We
remain committed to working with you until your task is complete.

Stephen A. Cambone
 P.03/08
NOU-03-2003 20=59

UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

5OOO DEFENSE PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 2O3OT-5OOO

NOV 3 2003
INTELLIGENCE

MEMORANDUM FOR SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE

CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF

SUBJECT: National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States -

Requirement to Comply by November 13, 2003

Attached is a report prepared by the Office of the DoD General Counsel

documenting the results of a October 24 meeting with the General Counsel and staff
members of the National Commission. A similar meeting took place on October 31.
Representatives of your organizations were present for both meetings. This report
has been forwarded by the attorney in the Office of the DoD General Counsel
informally to attorneys and others participating in the effort to respond to National
Commission requests.

National Commission staff members have stated that the Department has not
been fully responsive to their document requests in a number of information
categories, as described in the attachment. Interviews recently conducted by
Commission staff at several Air Force installations, with Air National Guard units,
and at NORAD's North East Air Defense Sector have turned up relevant documents
and other information not previously provided in response to formal Commission
requests.

Therefore, as the Department's principal point of contact for the National

Commission, I request that you direct that all levels of command within the affected
Air Force/Air National Guard and NORAD units conduct an immediate search for
all documents and recordings that fall within the information categories described in
the attachment. By November 13, all relevant documents and recordings must be
provided to the DoD Office of General Counsel document processing facility,
Crystal Gateway 3, Suite 1000. Your staffs can arrange for delivery by contacting
Ms. Sharon Gainor at 703-602-0998.

1. Documents containing Sensitive Compartmented Information and

information subject to Special Access Program restrictions should be
compiled separately from other documents.
" P. 04/08
NOU-03-2003 20:59

2. Along with the responsive documents, please provide: 1) an index

identifying each document by date and author and including the
document's classification level; and 2), the name(s), grade(s), duty
location(s), and telephone number(s) of the individual(s) who performed
the document searches.

Provide a point of contact within your organization to coordinate this action.

Contact information and questions should be directed to Mr. Stewart Aly, DoD
OGC, 703-695-6804 or Ms. Pat Downs, OUSD(I), 703-695-1860.

Stephen A. Cambone

Attachment:
As stated

cc:
OGC
ASD(LA)
ASD(PA)
NOU-03-2003 20=59

MEETING WITH 9-11 COMMISSION STAFF

24 October 2003

General Observation The staff members on the air defense team

looking into NORAD and Air Force issues indicated that they are
seeking certain categories of documents they have not yet received.
These categories are listed below with a discussion and
recommendation for each.

The staff members said that they do not believe anyone is

hiding documents from them and that some of the documents may
not have been produced because the Commission requests are
ambiguous or not drafted clearly. They also recognized that some of
these documents may not exist but they are not confident that DoD
searches have turned up all of the responsive material.

They are not interested in documents relating to operations

outside the general area where the highjacked aircraft operated,
except for any aircraft scrambled in response to the highjackings.
They said they do not want documents from the western area of the
United States, for example.

Follow up at all levels from squadron through MAJCOM is

necessary to respond to these concerns adequately.

(1) After Action Reports. The staff members have received after
action reports from other commands and expected to find a
comprehensive report prepared by NORAD covering the attacks on
September 11 and NORAD's response. They have an interim report
and a set of Power Point slides, but they have not found any
indication that a final report was prepared. They also said that they
are seeking any reports prepared at any level addressing the events
of the day and activities of Air Force or NORAD units at any level.

(2) Analysis of anomalies. The staff members described what

Page 1 of 4
NOU-03-2003 20=59

they called "anomalies" in the events of the day; these are

discrepancies or questions arising about things like the time at which
NORAD or its components became aware of some of the hijackings.
At the first Commission hearing on May 23 of this year, some of these
matters were apparently raised. (Transcripts of all hearings are
available on the Commission web site.) The Commission seeks any
analysis of any "anomalies" prepared at any level.

Recordings of telephone conversations and discussions in

operations centers. The Commission has received a transcription of
telephone conversations from NEADS which ends at 1015. In addition
to transcription of another hour, the staffers are looking for tape
recordings of telephone conversations from other NORAD units,
including Cheyenne Mountain and CONAR. The time frame is the
morning of September 1 1 until 1115 Eastern time.

Reports or transcripts of interviews of aircrews and others with

first hand knowledge of events on September 1 1 . When they visited
an Air Force and an Air National Guard Base, the staff members
found that pilots of scrambled aircraft had been interviewed and
given statements. The reasons for these interviews varied - some
were conducted by Wing historians or squadron personnel for
reasons that are not clear. Any records of interviews of scrambled
aircrews, crews on duty in operations centers or in other operational
units are of great interest.

Cockpit recordings from scrambled aircraft. The staffers

discovered during one of their visits that there are video recordings of
HUDs and audio recordings of aircrew conversations and radio
transmissions from F-15s scrambled on September 1 1 . These are of
great interest but may present some technical difficulties.

f6) Other documents discovered during visits to Air Force or Air

National Guard installations. The only documents In this category
that have not been covered above are Wing histories, which

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NOU-03-2003 21=00

included statements taken from aircrew members on scrambled

aircraft.

(7} Policy documents containing NORAD mission statements

both ore and post September 11 The staff members are seeking
documents that state NORAD's mission statement before September
] 1, and changes in that mission and policies since September 11.

Additional Considerations. This team will visit NEADS in Rome, NY,

beginning on 27 October, and plans subsequent trips to CONAR and
NORAD HQ. They intend to interview aircrew members and others
from Andrews AFB and Air National Guard units in Atlantic City,
Toledo and Selfridge. They may or may not make additional trips to
visit these locations and conduct the interviews.

Recommendations:

A. At all levels of command within affected Air Force and

NORAD units, any documents which have not been produced and
which fall within the categories listed in items (1) and (2) above
should be provided immediately.

B. CONAR, NORAD HQ and any affected NORAD, AF or ANG

units which operated operations centers or command posts on
September 11, 2001, should determine (a) whether any recordings
described in item (3) above exist from that day and (b) whether any
individuals on duty that day have been interviewed. If recordings
exist and if they can be readily transcribed, the transcription should
be made and provided immediately. If recordings exist but
transcription is a problem, notify DoD OGC immediately. Any records
already in hard copy should be provided immediately.

C. Any affected NORAD, AF or ANG unit which scrambled

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NOU-03-2003 21=00

aircraft on September 11, 2001, in response to the hijackings (as

discussed in the General Observations section above), should
determine (a) whether cockpit recordings exist in any form and (b)
whether any aircrew members or others on duly that day have been
interviewed. If recordings exist and if they can be readily transcribed,
the transcription should be made and provided immediately. If
recordings exist but transcription is a problem, notify DoD OGC
immediately. Any records already in hard copy should be provided
immediately.

D. Unit historians for any affected NORAD, AF or ANG units at all

levels should produce any histories and associated materials, such as
interview transcripts or statements, immediately.

E. NORAD HQ should determine whether any documents

contain mission and policy statements as described in item (7) above
and produce any responsive documents immediately.

F. All of the items listed above are reasonably responsive to

requests the Commission has already made, as they were clarified in
this meeting. Since the deadlines for production are short, any
responsive documents should be sent immediately (by overnight
mail) from the unit of origin to the Defense Department General
Counsel document production center as directed in the memoranda
transmitting the Commission requests previously. Any additional
review by NORAD, JCS or other units, can be conducted -
simultaneously with preparation of the documents for production to
the Commission, This includes any materials or documents that may
have already been assembled at NEADS.

Prepared by Stewart F.Aly, ADGC(LC) 703-696-6804

Page 4 of 4

TOTflL P.08
 °*x

February 20, 2004

Thomas H. Kean
CHAIR

Lee H. Hamilton Ms. Pat Downs

VICE CHAIR
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence
Richard Ben-Veniste 5000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-5000
Fred F. Fielding

Jamie S. Gorelick Dear Pat:

Slade Gorton As the Commission finalizes its review of DoD's document production in
preparation for its upcoming visit to NORAD headquarters, a matter that
Bob Kerrey
remains puzzling to us is the absence of an after-action report (hereinafter
John F. Lehman "AAR") regarding NORAD's response to the hijackings on 9/11. I
understand that this issue has been the subject of numerous telephone and
Timothy J. Roemer
email discussions between our respective staffs, dating back to at least last
James R. Thompson September. The purpose of this letter is twofold: first, to review the record
and reassert the Commission's request for AARs related to NORAD's
response on 9/11; and second, to seek DoD's written clarification as to where
Philip D. Zelikow
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR we stand with respect to this issue.

On May 9, 2003, the Commission submitted to DoD Document Request No.

1, which requested, inter alia, "All DoD after-action reviews relating to the
events of 9/11/01...." (DoD Req. No. 1, Item 10). In response to this request
DoD produced AARs from a number of DoD services and components,
including the Air Force, Navy and NMCC. A similar report related
specifically to NORAD's performance on 9/11 was not forthcoming.
Commission staff raised the absence of such an AAR in phone calls and
emails in the months that followed, including the attached September 8, 2003
email (which was forwarded again to DoD on October 20, 2003). With
respect to this issue, the Commission clarified its request in the following
manner:

"We are seeking from NORAD ALL documents that could be

fairly characterized as an after-action report. This would
include all documents that summarize, analyze, evaluate or
discuss NORAD's response to the events of 9/11. It would
also include all interviews with NORAD personnel that were
involved in NORAD's air defense operation on 9/11."

Of course, as DoD Document Request No. 1 makes clear, the request covers
AARs related to NORAD's performance on 9/11 even if they were produced
elsewhere in DoD.

301 7th Street SW, Room 5125 26 Federal Plaza

Washington, DC 20407 Suite 13-100
T 202.331.4060 F 202.296.5545 New York, NY 10278
www.9-llcommission.gov T 212.264.1505 F 212.264.1595
Ms. Pat Downs
February 20, 2004
Page 2

In order to clarify DoD's position with respect to this matter, we request that,
if DoD believes it has produced all documents that constitute the AAR(s)
related to NORAD's response on 9/11, it provide the Commission with a list
of such documents. If there are no documents within DoD responsive to this
request, please state so in writing. If there are documents responsive to this
request that have not yet been produced to the Commission, please provide
such documents and an explanation as to why they have not previously been
produced.

In light of our upcoming visit to Colorado (currently scheduled for March 2),
we look forward to hearing from you by February 26, 2004. Thank you for
your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

aniel Marcus
General Counsel

cc: Under Secretary Stephen A. Cambone

Stuart Aly
 r2004 18:05 ODGCLC D „_
r. 02

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE """

OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL
1600 DEFENSE PENTAGON
WASHINGTON, DC 2O3O1-16OO

March 16, 2004

Daniel Marcus, Esq.

General Counsel
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
upon the United States
307 7th Street, SW, Room 5125
Washington, DC 20407

Dear Dan:

This letter responds on behalf of the Department of Defense to your letter of

February 20, 2004, concerning After Action Reports. I attach a letter addressed to me
from Colonel David Hayden, the Staff Judge Advocate for NORAD and United States
Northern Command, which provides NORAD's response discussing the matters you
raise.

The scope of the request you quote in your letter is extremely broad: "all
documents that summarize, analyze, evaluate or discuss NORAD's response to the
events of 9/11." This could encompass a massive amount of material that the
Commission clearly does not want, such as articles in various publications of the
Department of Defense including newspapers published at military installations around
the world.

We have, therefore, interpreted this request to seek documents that could fairly
be called reports in military parlance. That means a document prepared by a member
of an organization intended for a higher level of command or supervision describing
events on September 11 and including some form of conclusion or recommendation.
We have listed documents we consider responsive to this request on the index
delivered to you every week with our document deliveries.

I hope this information resolves the issue for the Commission and its staff. If you
have questions, please call me at 703-695-6804.

Stewart F. Aly
Associate Deputy General Counsel
(Legal Counsel)

Atch: As stated

o
j-2004 18=05 ODGCLC

NORTH AMERICAN AEROSPACE DEFENSE COMMAND

AND
UNITED STATES NORTHERN COMMAND
Office of the Staff Judge Advocate

16 March 2004

;• MEMORANDUM FOR MR STEWART ALY

"v ASSOCIATE DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
1600 DEFENSE PENTAGON
WASHINGTON DC 3030 W 600

FROM: NORAD-USNORTHCOM/JA
250 VANDENBERG STREET, SUITE B01$
PETERSON AFB CO 80914.3809

SUBJECT: 9/11 COMMISSION HEARINGS

1. I have received a copy of the letter from Daniel Marcus, General Counsel for the National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Against the United States. The purpose of the letter is to
address document production by NORAD in response to the Commission's request for after* .•*
action reviews/reports (AARs) relating to NORAD's response on 9/11. r

2. I note that the request can be fairly read to solicit two different categories of documents.

a. On the one hand, the second paragraph of Mr. Marcus's letter refers to reports from the Air
Force, Navy and NMCC in stating that no "similar report related specifically to NORAD's
performance on 9/11" has been produced. .This implies that tbe Commission is seeking a single
document that could be described as the NORAD after action report on the events of September
11,2001.

b. On the other hand, the email quoted later in that same paragraph states that the Commission
. is "seeing from NORAD ALL documents that could be fairly characterized as an after action
!'. report" [sic]. This statement and the remainder of the paragraph, imply that there may be many
responsive documents, not just one NORAD report.

3. I have conducted a reasonable inquiry into the existence of documents at NORAD that would
be responsive to the requests described in this letter. While NORAD did not produce what
would be traditionally classified as one final and comprehensive After Action Report, it did
produce a series of after-action report* that document 9/11 lessons learned These documents
have been provided to the Commission.
.0-2004 13=05 ODGCLC P. 04

4 I have Prepared this totter on the understanding Art it will be provided to Mr. Marcus as,
attachment to the Defense Department's reply to his letter,

DAVID t. HAYDEN, COL, USA

Staff Judge Advocate

TOTflL P.04