Today, we remember

19 YEARS AGO TODAY: I was CNN’s military affairs correspondent, sitting at my desk in the Pentagon, as the twin towers burned in New York. My office on the outer E ring of the Pentagon was filled with people watching the CNN coverage on several television monitors — because back then, not everyone had a TV on their desk or a way to watch videos on their computer.

Suddenly, I began getting messages over CNN’s internal computer system. “Are you all right?” “Is everything OK?” I was momentarily puzzled. Why were people in the newsroom asking me if I was OK? The story was in New York. Then, I looked up at CNN and saw that my producer, Chris Plante, was reporting that an aircraft had struck the west side of the Pentagon. He had arrived at work around 9:40 a.m., seen the smoke, driven to the other side of the building, and was describing the scene by cellphone.

That’s how I found out the Pentagon had been attacked. The building is so big, and my office between the seventh and eighth corridors was so busy, I didn’t feel the impact, although others around said they did.

THE WORLD CHANGED: The plane, American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757 with 64 people on board, hit between corridors four and five. Everyone on the plan was killed, as well as 125 people inside the Pentagon.

I rushed down corridor seven into the inner courtyard and talked to military and civilian workers who had escaped the smoke and burning rubble and rushed back to my Pentagon office to deliver my first report on CNN, around 10 a.m.

Aaron Brown was the anchor in New York, reporting from a rooftop with the smoking towers of the World Trade Center in the background. I was just beginning my report when Brown interrupted me. One of the towers could no longer be seen behind him, and in a moment of horrifying realization, it became clear the tower collapsed.

It was time for me to vacate my Pentagon office and move outside, where I could inspect the damage close up and hook up with the CNN crew that had been dispatched to the scene. It was a bright, sunny September Tuesday that belied the terrible tragedy that was unfolding.

As the day wore on and I interviewed survivors and eyewitnesses, it was apparent the world has just changed dramatically. The Pentagon had been a sleepy beat in the summer of 2001, which until then was dominated by reports of shark attacks and the missing Washington intern Chandra Levy.

I could see my future would be consumed with reporting about war and investigations as the country came to terms with how a group of 19 hijackers could turn airliners into missiles to strike at the heart of America.

REMEMBERING THE DAY: In 2006, five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, I put together a short video recollection of the events of that morning at the Pentagon for CNN. You can view that video here on my YouTube channel.

Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Tyler Van Dyke. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.

Subscribe today to the Washington Examiner magazine and get Washington Briefing: politics and policy stories that will keep you up to date with what’s going on in Washington. SUBSCRIBE NOW: Just $1.00 an issue!

HAPPENING TODAY: This morning, as was the case the morning after the attacks, Pentagon workers unfurled a huge American flag down the west side of the Pentagon.

This year’s annual Pentagon 9/11 observance ceremony is virtual and not open to the public, but it will be livestreamed by the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Mark Milley will preside over the ceremony beginning at 8:45 a.m.

Later, small groups of families who lost loved ones during the attack will be able to tour the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial, where there is a bench, a tree, and a small pool of water for each of the 184 lives lost.

TRUMP IN PENNSYLVANIA: President Trump and the first lady will take part in 9/11 observance ceremonies at 9:45 a.m. at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

ALSO TODAY: Later at the White House, Trump will award the Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. Maj. Thomas Payne for conspicuous gallantry on Oct. 22, 2015, during a nighttime hostage rescue in Kirkuk province, Iraq.

TRUMP SAYS ‘WE HAVE THE GREATEST WEAPONS’: At a rally in Michigan on Thursday, Trump mocked what he called the “fake news” for suggesting he may have revealed the existence of a classified secret weapon in a conversation with investigative reporter Bob Woodward.

In one of the recorded interviews, Trump says, “I have built a nuclear — a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before. We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. … What we have is incredible.’

On Thursday, Trump denied he was giving away and secrets. “We have systems and missiles and rockets and military — we have systems that you’ve never even seen before. President Xi has nothing like it. Putin has nothing like it. Nobody has anything like what we have,” Trump said. “And they said, ‘Is he giving away military information?’ No. I’m saying we have the greatest weapons in the world. That’s what I’m saying.”

TRUMP’S CHURCHILL DEFENSE: At the same rally, Trump defended his strategy of playing down the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic to avoid panic, comparing himself to FDR and Winston Churchill.

“America will prevail over the China virus. As Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ That’s it. We’re doing very well,” he told the crowd.

“As the British government advised the British people in the face of World War II, ‘Keep calm and carry on.’ That’s what I did,” he said. “When Hitler was bombing London, Churchill, great leader, would oftentimes go to a roof in London and speak. And he always spoke with calmness. He said, ‘We have to show calmness.’ No, we did it the right way. And we’ve done a job like nobody.”

TRUMP’S WOODWARD DEFENSE: Earlier at a White House news conference, Trump argued that he was right not to scare people about the deadly virus. “I don’t want to jump up and down and start screaming ‘death, death’ because that’s not what it’s about,” he said, suggesting that Woodward didn’t think his approach was wrong, or he would have said something sooner.

“If Bob Woodward thought what I said was bad, then he should’ve immediately, right after I said it, gone out to the authorities so they can prepare and let them know,” Trump said. “But he didn’t think it was bad, and he said he didn’t think it was bad — he actually said he didn’t think it was bad.”

‘KEEP CALM’ MYTH: In citing the now ubiquitous “Keep Calm and Carry On” meme, Trump, or his speechwriters, gave more life to myths about the famous slogan. The problem is that according to historians, the slogan was rejected by the British War Office and was never shared with the British public.

Instead, the slogans “Freedom Is In Peril” and “Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution Will Bring Us Victory” were used to encourage Brits to keep a stiff upper lip.

As for “Keep Calm and Carry On,” according to Owen Hatherley, author of the book, The Ministry of Nostalgia: Consuming Austerity. “It was never, ever on the city streets, in London or anywhere else,” he told NPR’s On the Media in 2016.

“It was thought that as soon as the bombs started to drop people would panic and that this would work as a way of sort of saying to people, don’t be so bloody silly, you know, pipe down, and wasn’t produced, I think, partly because of the fact that people didn’t panic,” Hatherley sais. “So the poster, which I think was already considered by researchers to be quite patronizing, was stopped.”

INDUSTRY WATCH: Lockheed Martin expects to deliver 122 F-35s in calendar year 2020 — 20 fewer than originally planned, Air Force Magazine reports.

The delays are the result of pandemic-related slowdowns on the production line. Instead of surging and then slowing production on the line, which would increase cost, the delayed jets will be delivered over the next two years, Lockheed’s VP for aeronautics told the magazine.

“It’s actually going to take us a couple of years to recover those 20 jets,” Michele Evans said in a Sept. 9. interview. “What we don’t want to do is drive our capacity way up” to make up the shortage and then ramp down to a more efficient rate afterward, she said, creating “spikes and low points.”

In other F-35 news, Bloomberg is reporting that the Pentagon’s five-year budget plan for the F-35 falls short by as much as $10 billion.

Citing the military’s independent cost analysis, the reports suggest the shortfall is “a new indication that the complex fighter jet may be too costly to operate and maintain.”

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Amid coronavirus, Army Basic Combat Training shows better results for Gen Z recruits

Washington Examiner: ‘We must stay ahead’: Esper warns of China and Russia using AI in battlespace

Breaking Defense: China Is Not Ahead Of U.S. On AI: JAIC Chief & Gen. Hyten

USNI News: Analyst: China Exceeded Expectations In Speed Of Naval Growth

Washington Examiner: US sanctions ‘active Russian agent’ for anti-Biden election interference

Reuters: U.S. Could Restrict Funds For ‘Malign Activities’ Over Navalny Poisoning

Wall Street Journal: Russian Hackers Have Targeted 200 Groups Tied to U.S. Election, Microsoft Says

Washington Examiner: ‘I saved his a–‘: Woodward says Trump boasted about getting Congress to lay off Saudi prince after Jamal Khashoggi killing

Washington Times: Russia, China, Iran To Hold Massive Joint Military Exercise

Stars and Stripes: B-52s And Marine Corps F-35s Join North Sea Drill For First Time

Seapower Magazine: Cruise Missiles In The Arctic Seen As Another Outcome Of Great Power Competition

Washington Examiner: Did the 9/11 attacks usher in the post-truth age?

Washington Post: Afghanistan Releases Prisoners, Will Begin Talks With Taliban

VOA: CENTCOM: US Cutting Troop Levels in Afghanistan to 4,500

Marine Corps Times: The Corps Can’t Complete Its Missions Without Women, Minorities, Top Marine Says

New York Times: China Is Using Its Vaccines To Win Friends

Air Force Magazine: ‘Future Games’ Exercise to Feature Swarming Drones, Palletized Munitions

Forbes: Opinion: Despite Pandemic, The U.S. Army Is In Its Best Shape In A Generation. Here’s Why.

Calendar

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11

8:45 a.m. — Defense Secretary Mark Esper participates in a virtual observance ceremony in honor of the 184 people killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Livestream at https://www.defense.gov/Watch/Live-Events

9:45 a.m. — Memorial service at Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa. to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are scheduled to participate in events. The Trumps attend the morning ceremony. The Bidens will tour the memorial to pay respects in the afternoon.

2 p.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center Canada Institute webcast: “The High-Tech Future of North American Defense,” with Air Force Brig. Gen. Peter Fesler, deputy director of operations at North American Aerospace Defense Command; and Christopher Sands, director of the WWC Canada Institute. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/high-tech-future-north-american-defense

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 14

9 a.m. — Day one of the Air Force Association 2020 Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett; Gen. Timothy Ray, commander, Air Force Global Strike Command; Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander, Pacific Air Forces; Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa. Full agenda at: https://www.afa.org/events/calendar/2020-09-14/air-space-cyber-conference

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 15

9 a.m. — Day two of the Air Force Association 2020 Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond; Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics; and others. Full agenda at: https://www.afa.org/events/calendar/2020-09-14/air-space-cyber-conference

10 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his recent trip to Central and Eastern Europe. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event

1 p.m. Rayburn 2118 — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness hearing: “Addressing the Legacy of Department of Defense use of PFAS: Protecting Our Communities and Implementing Reform,” with Maureen Sullivan, deputy assistant secretary of defense acquisition and sustainment; Terry Rauch, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense health readiness and policy oversight; Herb Nelson, director, Strategic Environment Research and Development Program. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

3 p.m. — Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute virtual launch of the new Center for Freedom and Democracy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers keynote remarks, followed by a panel discussion “Retooling Westminster: Advancing Freedom in the 21st Century.” with Reagan Institute Director Roger Zakheim, Amb. Mark Green and Kenneth Wollack with the National Endowment for Democracy. https://www.reaganfoundation.org/programs-events/events-calendar/

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 16

2 p.m. — McCain Institute “Authors & Insights Book Talk Series”: “Foreign Policy Crossroads: Where We Are and How We Got Here,” with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author of Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st Century Memoir, and Mark Green. https://asu.zoom.us

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 17

1 p.m. Rayburn 2118 — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities hearing: “Interim Review of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence Effort and Recommendations,” with Eric Schmidt, chairman, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Robert Work, vice chairman, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence; Mignon Clyburn, commissioner, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence; José-Marie Griffiths, commissioner, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 21

12 p.m. — Day one of New America and Arizona State University Future Security Forum, a four-day virtual event reimagining national security in the age of COVID-19, with retired Gen. Joseph Votel, former U.S. Central Commander; Michèle Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy; Bonnie Jenkins, founder and president, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation; Helene Gayle, MD, member, Committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus, National Academies; Michael Osterholm, director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota. https://www.newamerica.org/conference/future-security-forum-2020/

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 22

1 p.m. — Virtual Book launch of Adaptation Under Fire, with co-authors retired Lt. Gen. David Barno and Nora Bensahel, with discussion by Kori Schake, AEI; Karl Mueller, RAND; Richard Lacquement, U.S. Army War College; moderated by Jim Goldgeier. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/adaptation-under-fire

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 23

9:30 a.m. SD-562, Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support hearing on “Navy and Marine Corps Readiness,” with Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 25

10 a.m. — “Hack at the Harbor” virtual security conference sponsored by Point3 Security, with speakers including Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security. https://hackattheharbor.com/

11:30 a.m. — Approximately 70 World War II aircraft will fly over the Washington Mall in two-minute intervals in historically sequenced warbird formations representing the major World War II battles. More than 20 different types of vintage military aircraft are scheduled to take part, including the P-40 Warhawk, P-39 Airacobra, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, F4U Corsair, B-25 Mitchell, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress. https://ww2flyover.org/