Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, Operation Eagle Assist began on October 9, 2001 after the North Atlantic Council's October 4 decision to operationalize Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and ended on May 16, 2002. In total, 830 crew members from 13 NATO nations executed 360 operational sorties, totaling nearly 4300 hours, over the skies of the United States in NATO AWACS aircraft.
The decision to terminate what was NATO's first deployment "in the defense of one of its member countries" "was made on the basis of upgrades to the U.S. air defense posture, enhanced cooperation between U.S. civil and military authorities, and on mandatory evaluations of homeland security requirements"
Famous quotes containing the words operation, eagle and/or assist:
“Human knowledge and human power meet in one; for where the cause is not known the effect cannot be produced. Nature to be commanded must be obeyed; and that which in contemplation is as the cause is in operation as the rule.”
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“The Eagle has landed.”
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“When Dad can’t get the diaper on straight, we laugh at him as though he were trying to walk around in high-heel shoes. Do we ever assist him by pointing out that all you have to do is lay out the diaper like a baseball diamond, put the kid’s butt on the pitcher’s mound, bring home plate up, then fasten the tapes at first and third base?”
—Michael K. Meyerhoff (20th century)