Michigan ANG F-16 Pilot Recalls 9/11 Morning Training Mission

Retired Lt. Col. Tom Froling, then a Michigan Air National Guard F-16C pilot, took off from Selfridge Air National Guard Base at 08:50 on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. It was to be a routine training mission with his flight lead, Maj. Doug Champagne. The two-ship formation flew north along low-level Military Training Route VR1624 toward Grayling Range in northern Michigan for practice bombing and strafing runs.

Froling called the day's tone surreal. "In a matter of hours, what I was doing changed so dramatically," he said, reflecting on how the mission shifted once the squadron learned of the attacks. He made the comments 25 years later in an interview with The Aviationist.

The article places Froling's departure in the broader timeline of the attacks. About fifty minutes earlier, at 07:59, American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767-223ER, had left Boston Logan International Airport bound for Los Angeles. At 08:19, flight attendant Betty Ann Ong called the American Airlines reservation desk and reported a stabbing and possible mace in business class.

After the attacks, Froling's squadron was loading live missiles and ammunition for combat air patrols over the United States, according to the article. Froling said his training and career experience could not have prepared him for such an event.