20 years after 9/11, a look inside the STRATCOM bunker

Reporter Brian Mastre gets a look at the bunker in Bellevue, Neb., where President Bush was taken on 9/11.
Published: Sep. 8, 2021 at 6:25 PM CDT
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OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Twenty years ago Saturday, President George W. Bush flew to Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue to get a better handle on our nation under attack.

The historical 55th wing, featuring a safety bunker, hosted President Bush on Sept. 11 and provided the safety and security necessary for President Bush to make his crucial decisions regarding the nation’s safety. The bunker, designed to withstand a nuclear blast, is located 40 feet underground and has enough space and rooms to serve as a hotel for the president and his team.

The president came to Bellevue from Louisiana and Florida that day to talk with his national security team. He wanted to know more about the terrorist attacks in New York, the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania.

Twenty years ago Saturday, President George W. Bush flew to Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue to get a better handle on our nation under attack.

“The President and a lot of his team came down here,” said Mike Hoskins, Offutt’s Deputy Director of Plans and Programs. “The secret service and advisors were down here, and all day, the president had been looking to communicate with people that weren’t around him at the time.”

The 55th wing bunker has since been dismantled and is no longer in use. In fact, STRATCOM moved command and control operations to a new facility on Offutt Air Force Base in 2019.

In this file photo from the U.S. National Archives, President Bush deplanes Air Force One at...
In this file photo from the U.S. National Archives, President Bush deplanes Air Force One at Offutt Air Force Base on Sept. 11, 2001. The president got updates on the 9/11 terror attacks while at STRATCOM.(Eric Draper | U.S. National Archives)

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