Former NORAD Commander reflects on 25th anniversary of September 11th attacks

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- 25 years after the September 11th attacks, the man who was at the helm of defending our nation reflected on the horrors of that day. 

"The first thing that comes to mind is sadness.  Sadness.  So many lives were lost that day," said Retired General Ralph "Ed" Eberhart.  He was the Commander of NORAD the day that America fell under attack in 2001.  "it's something that I often reflect upon."

His day started like most others: run, gym, run, home, work. 

While getting ready for work that day, however, he got a phone call he will never forget. 

"The red phone -- and it really was a red phone -- rang.  It was Cheyenne Mountain.  It was the command center.  They said they had a suspected hijacking."

Very little was known in those early minutes, but after the second plane hit the World Trade Center, he knew this was no mistake. 

"It was obvious to me one [plane], maybe. But two to me, spelled loud and clear, we were under attack.  Our challenge was trying to keep a bad situation from getting worse," Eberhart remembered. 

While military forces had previously practiced responding to hijackings, they had never practiced hijackers becoming pilots. 

"Previous hijackers used the airplanes as some bartering chip, and the lives on those airplanes.  These hijackers were using them as a kinetic weapon.  These people went to pilot training, learned how to fly, in Florida and elsewhere, and they didn't seem too interested in learning how to land.  We're always in a hurry. We have good, but short, memories. But I guarantee the terorrists don't.  They planned that for five years."  

Once the skies had been cleared and all flights, save for medical flights, were grounded, Eberhart transferred his location from then-Peterson Air Force Base to Cheyenne Air Force Station, inside Cheyenne Mountain's granite fortress.  

It was then the giant blast doors were closed, out of fear of another surprise attack. 

With Eberhart's counsel, it was decided that President George W. Bush would be flown from Sarasota, Florida -- where he had been reading to elementary school students -- to Offut Air Force Base in Omaha, a shorter flight than to Colorado Springs.

For years, Eberhart daily asked himself sobering questions. 

"Did we miss an opportunity to shoot this airplane down?  What could I have done? Or, Command done to save some lives?"

The answer?

"Nothing, once they were airborne, could have changed the outcome."

 Eberhart believes that another attack is coming, but not through hijacking again.

"It could be water supplies, utilities, you name it.  Covid."

The former Commander also has haunting questions:

"Why haven't we been attacked again? Secondly, how do we win this war on terrorism?  It's not going to be unconditional surrender in Tokyo. And, equally important: How do we know when we've won?

Eberhart is credited with crafting what we know as USNORTHCOM today.  It is one centralized command center that tracks potential threats to the United States and Canada.