Heat Lightning: A personal reflection on the U.S. Air Force and its response to September 11, 2001 (Air Force Chronicles)

More than 300,000 of America's sons and daughters comprise its Air Force, which is not just a warfighting service but a national institution with a proud tradition, a storied history, and a solemn duty to defend the nation's interests through air and space. Today's Air Force is under unprecedented strain. The chronic stresses and pressures of a generation of continual expeditionary warfighting now threaten the vitality of this critical instrument of national power. Still, its airmen find a way to succeed against perpetually mounting odds. Their story is worth telling. To grasp it requires gazing backward to that fateful day in 2001 that continues to serve as the hinge of modern American history. Understanding the Air Force's response to 9/11 requires an understanding of how the service was postured on that fateful day, and why. This is the story, as told through the experiences of an airman whose career spanned the end of the Cold War to the waning days of the mission on Afghanistan, of how America's Air Force has so far met and responded to the most formidable set of challenges in its history, and how that reaction continues to be defined by the grit, commitment, and character of its people.