On September 11, 2001, the 181 FW flew combat air patrols over the Midwestern United States less than four hours after the attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. The wing drastically increased its operations tempo, deployed members and equipment to 19 countries, and simultaneously supported seven different military operations, including Operation Southern Watch, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Joint Forge, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Deep Freeze, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.