President Bush Arrives at Offutt Air Force Base on September 11, 2001
This photograph shows President George W. Bush departing from Air Force One upon his arrival at at Offutt Air Force Base near Bellevue, Nebraska on September 11, 2001. The president went to an underground bunker at the military base to attend a videoconference meeting with Vice President Richard B. Cheney and national security advisors working from the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) at the White House. Bush received news of the suspected terrorist attacks on the morning of September 11, 2001, while visiting Emma E. Brooker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, to take part in a reading demonstration. After delivering brief remarks at the school, Bush boarded Air Force One for his own protection, accompanied by roughly 65 advisors, security agents, and staff members. For the next several hours, President Bush worked from his office aboard Air Force One, where he monitored the crisis using the secure phone lines and televisions installed in the aircraft. Prior to arriving at Andrews Air Force Base for the president's return to the White House, Air Force One stopped at military bases in Louisiana and Nebraska for refueling and security purposes.