By Major General Joe Arbuckle, US Army retired
Vice Chairman Emeritus, STARRS Board of Directors
Member, STARRS Board of Directors
On 11 September 2001, I had been retired 9 months; at 0650 hrs MT I was doing my morning workout in our Colorado mountain residence high in a remote area in the Rockies.
Fox News was on and I heard an announcer saying a plane had just hit one of the twin towers. I immediately assumed it was a light plane that likely had a mechanical malfunction, but when video of the impact was shown with the civilian airliner descending in a nearly flat and straight trajectory toward the tower that changed everything. It did not appear the plane was out of control in any manner so my thinking was, this could be deliberate.
Shortly thereafter it was announced that the second tower was hit and more video was made available showing the plane once again on a shadow and fast trajectory toward the tower.
At that point there was no doubt in my mind it was a terrorist act. That conclusion was reinforced when later news appeared saying the Pentagon was hit and an airliner went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
For the next day or so I considered contacting the Army General Officer Management Office (GOMO) to volunteer to come back on active duty because we were at war and the scope of the threat was unknown.
My wife and I discussed that idea and concluded I needed to do it. So I called GOMO and volunteered to return to active duty and also sent an email. I received a response saying the Chief of Staff appreciated my willingness to come back on active duty but at that time it was not necessary; I heard nothing further. There were enough active duty, reserve, and national guard generals to handle the situation.
“The oath never expires.”
STARRS Vice Chairman Emeritus Maj. General Joe Arbuckle, USA(Ret.) graduated from college in 1968, and entered the Army in 1969 as a private. Following training as a combat engineer, he was later commissioned upon graduating from Engineer Officer Candidate School in 1970.
Having volunteered for duty as an Infantry Officer, he served a year in Vietnam on Advisory Team 22, embedded with the South Vietnamese Army.
He has commanded at every rank from Lieutenant to Major General, specializing in the missile field. During later years, he served in various capacities as an Army strategist and became an industrial base expert, playing a major role in the DoD “Revolution in Military Logistics” campaign.
He was inducted into the Army OCS, Engineer, Ordnance and AMC Halls of Fame. General Arbuckle retired after 32 years of commissioned and enlisted service. Read Full Bio
Major General Joe Arbuckle on Meritocracy, Accountability and Military Reform
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