Operation Eagle Assist was a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

operation where AWACS aircraft patrolled the skies over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. On October 4, about a month after the September 11 attacks, the

North Atlantic Council The North Atlantic Council (NAC) is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), consisting of permanent representatives of its member countries. It was established by Article 9 of the North A ...

decided to operationalize

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty The North Atlantic Treaty, also referred to as the Washington Treaty, is the treaty that forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The treaty was signed in Washington, D.C., on 4 April 1949 ...

. The operation began on October 9, 2001.AWACS: NATO's eyes in the sky – 4. AWACS Operations
, NATO On-line library. It was NATO's first deployment "in the defense of one of its member countries". In total, 830 crew members from 13 NATO nations executed 360 operational sorties, totaling nearly 4300 hours. The operation ended on May 16, 2002. The decision to terminate "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."
, U.S. Mission to Italy

References

External links

Statement by the Secretary General on the conclusion of Operation Eagle Assist

Canadian Forces contributions to NATO

* ttp://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/10/12/ret.nato.awacs/index.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Eagle Assist, Operation Military operations involving NATO 2001 in the United States 2002 in the United States

See also

References

External links