FARGO — Twenty-five years after hijacked airliners killed 2,977 people and altered national security policy, North Dakota leaders who were in uniform or in charge of the state’s response described a morning they call surreal and a set of urgent duties that fell to the National Guard.
Retired Col. Brad Derrig, then a North Dakota National Guard fighter pilot stationed at Langley Air Force Base, recalled looking down from his F-16 and seeing the Pentagon aflame — one of four aircraft targets struck in attacks that day.
“The word I can only use is just how surreal it was that day,”
Derrig said. He was one of three pilots from the 119th Fighter Wing who were at Langley on Sept. 11, 2001.
Immediate scramble, unclear threats
The earliest moments brought confusion as well as the urgent need to respond. Derrig said that from the cockpit they initially did not know whether the explosion at the Pentagon was caused by another aircraft or a different kind of blast.
Meanwhile, retired Adjutant General Mike Haugen was attending a national conference in Montana when he learned an airplane had struck the World Trade Center. Haugen said he called Fargo and was told the base at Langley was going to “battle stations,” a term he described as ordering pilots into the air.
“I called Fargo and said ‘what’s going on in Langley?’ And they said ‘we’re just going to battle stations,’” Haugen said. For him and other Guard leaders, the next priority included protecting critical infrastructure within North Dakota.
Defending home installations
Then-Gov. John Hoeven, who was governor on Sept. 11, said authorities considered the risk of further attacks to be real and immediate. Flights were grounded nationwide and officials worked to secure airports and vital infrastructure.
A particular concern in North Dakota, Haugen said, was Minot Air Force Base. He ordered the National Guard’s Air Defense Artillery Unit into a posture to protect the base against any potential aerial attack.
- Langley-based 119th Fighter Wing pilots scrambled to defend the National Capital Region.
- North Dakota leaders moved to secure state infrastructure, including Minot AFB.
- Grounding of civil aviation nationwide heightened the urgency of local base protection.
Lasting impressions and lessons
The accounts from Derrig, Haugen and Hoeven underscore how a single morning required rapid adaptation by Guard units that serve both state and federal missions. The 119th Fighter Wing’s presence at Langley that day illustrates how the National Guard’s dual-role forces can be immediately integrated into homeland defense when crises erupt.
For team members who were there, the moment is framed as part of a generation-defining event. Derrig used the word “surreal” to describe the emotional and operational shock of witnessing an attack from a combat aircraft over the nation’s capital.
Who said what
| Person | Role in 2001 | Memory or action |
|---|---|---|
| Brad Derrig | 119th Fighter Wing pilot at Langley | Saw the Pentagon on fire from his F-16; called the day "surreal." |
| Mike Haugen | Adjutant General (ret.) | Ordered Air Defense Artillery to protect Minot AFB; alerted by media while at conference. |
| John Hoeven | Governor | Emphasized securing airports and vital infrastructure amid threat concerns. |
Those who served that day say the experience continues to inform how they view rapid-response readiness, civil-military coordination and the need to secure key facilities in peacetime as well as in crisis.
As communities across North Dakota mark the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, the memories from servicemembers and leaders who directed local responses remain a reminder that homeland defense can pivot quickly from routine to critical when the nation faces unexpected attacks.
Local officials, historians and veterans groups will observe the anniversary with services and reflections; for many who served, the memory of that morning remains both vivid and formative.
