page_title: Hispanics in the United States Air Force
section_title: September 11 attacks
hierarchical_section_title: Hispanics in the United States Air Force / September 11 attacks
caption_attribution_description: English: A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon Block 40 aircraft after receiving fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft during a mission over Iraq on 10 June 2008. This F-16 is assigned to the 34th EFS Balad Air Base, Iraq and is deployed from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Andy Dunaway/Released)
context_page_description: Hispanics in the United States Air Force can trace their tradition of service back to the United States Army Air Forces, the military aviation arm of the United States Army during and immediately after World War II. The USAAF was the predecessor of the United States Air Force, which was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947, under the National Security Act of 1947. In the U.S., the term Hispanic categorizes any citizen or resident of the United States, of any racial background, of any country, and of any religion, who has at least one ancestor from the people of Spain or is of non-Hispanic origin but has an ancestor from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central or South America, or some other Hispanic origin. The three largest Hispanic groups in the United States are the Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau the estimated Hispanic population of the United States is over 50 million, or 16% of the U.S. population, and Hispanics are the nation's largest ethnic minority. The 2010 U.S.
context_section_description: On September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 was hijacked by four members of al-Qaeda terrorists as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers breached the aircraft's cockpit and overpowered the flight crew approximately 46 minutes after takeoff. Ziad Jarrah, a trained pilot, then took control of the aircraft and diverted it back toward the east coast of the United States in the direction of Washington, D.C. The hijackers' specific target was the United States Capitol.
  Lieutenant Colonel Marc H. Sasseville, of Puerto Rican heritage, called Brigadier General David Wherley, the commander of the 113th Wing, to get permission to use their "war-reserve missiles.
  Four pilots were available for the mission and received authorization to get airborne in their fighter jets, among them Lieutenant Colonel Marc Sasseville and Lieutenant Heather Penney.
  The mission was to find United Airlines Flight 93 and destroy it however they could. Since the fighter jets were absent of missiles and packed only with dummy ammunition from a recent training mission, there was only one way to do it and that was by ramming the aircraft.
  Sasseville, flew his aircraft alongside the aircraft of Lt. Penney. According to Penney, Sasseville told her: "We don't train to bring down airliners. If you just hit the engine, it could still glide and you could guide it to a target". He also told her that he would take out the cockpit and that she should take the tail.
  The fighter jets passed over the ravaged Pentagon building, however it was not until hours later that they would find out that United 93 had already gone down in a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania, killing all 44 people aboard including the 4 hijackers.
  In 2001, Noel Zamot was assigned to the Directorate of Operations, United States Space Command, Paterson Air Force Base in Colorado as Deputy Chief of Operations Integration. According to the United States Air Force, Zamot's mission as Deputy Chief of Operations in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks was to integrate emerging national capabilities into a joint counter terrorism operation. He developed concepts for long-term Information Operations and Space Control activities for the US enabling a multi-spectral combat response. He was also involved in the development of the Special Access Program (SAP) systems and in the development of new counter-space capabilities which resulted in a more effective counter-terrorism operation across 3 combat zones.
caption: An F-16, the type of aircraft used by Lt. Col. Sasseville during the September 11 attacks
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