Twenty-five years ago, the traditional definition of war dramatically shifted. 

The coordinated terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, shattered Americans’ confidence in a safe and secure homeland. The fight no longer was relegated to farflung battlefields. 

In a Sept. 20, 2001, address to Congress, President George W. Bush first coined the phrase “war on terror” to describe the new reality. The military response would begin shortly after, on Oct. 7, as forces invaded Afghanistan, destroyed al-Qaeda terrorist training camps and disrupted the organization’s global operations. 

In the years since, U.S. Air Force Academy graduates have answered the call to defend the nation and counter evolving terrorist threats around the world. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice for responding to growing global instability. 

Terrorist networks, with support from state sponsors, continue to sow chaos around the globe. As a result, the nation’s military is ever evolving to match the resolve of an unpredictable enemy.

As the Global War on Terrorism stretches into its second quarter-century, USAFA alums are reflecting on the progress made in the ongoing fight and what success might look like in the years ahead. 

“We haven’t been attacked at home in a long time,” says Maj. Cameron Dilts ’10, who’s been deployed nine times during his 16-year career. “The whole idea of GWOT was to keep things at a lowintensity level of conflict and not in the homeland. I think we’ve achieved that.”

As commander of the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center in 2001, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Mike Gould ’76, then a brigadier general, and his team were focused primarily on potential threats from Russia. What happened on Sept. 11 caught everyone by surprise. 

“We were postured to warn and then defend against Russian bombers coming from the north,” he reports. “We had some procedures for hijacking, but we never really considered the types of attacks that occurred on 9/11.” 

All the checklists inside the mountain focused on a U.S. response to force-onforce attacks, he notes. 

“This was something different,” he says. “We couldn’t respond with some sort of offensive action or defensive action until we had a return address on where these attacks were coming from. It heightened our awareness that this is a different world, a different type of enemy. A lot of quick thinking avoided some big mistakes that could have happened during that time.” 

In the aftermath of the attacks, Gen. Gould’s thoughts soon shifted to his family. His wife, Paula, now a retired colonel, was still serving in the Reserve. Sons Bart ’04 (a USAFA cadet at the time) and Brandon ’07 (a future cadet) would eventually join the fight. 

“The fact that our nation was attacked just increased our resolve — mine personally and my family’s,” he says. “The Gould clan was ready and willing to do whatever. I determined then that there was no telling where I might go next. The total focus would be on defeating this amorphous enemy.”

After two years in Cheyenne Mountain, Gen. Gould returned to the Pentagon, identifying and deploying forces to Afghanistan and Iraq. Later, he commanded the Third and then the Second Air Forces. 

He worked across sub-Saharan Africa, establishing relationships that would allow U.S. forces access points in the war on terrorism. After that, his team collaborated with the Army to provide additional transportation personnel to keep critical supplies flowing to the war in Iraq. 

Gen. Gould’s next stop was at U.S. Transportation Command, where his team moved personnel and equipment to the front, including critical mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles needed to counter the growing use of improvised explosive devices by terrorists targeting U.S. troops. 

In June 2009, a newly promoted Lt. Gen. Gould returned to the Academy as the 18th superintendent. His alma mater had changed significantly since his cadet years. 

“They had put up the big embassy fences around the Cadet Area, increased all the security at the gates, and did very careful vetting of who could come on the Academy grounds,” he says. 

Training had shifted to prepare the new second lieutenants for their expected involvement in the GWOT upon graduation. When Gen. Gould graduated from USAFA in 1976, the Cold War was in full swing and deployments to war zones were infrequent. The post-9/11 world was much different. “If you think about the conflicts we have been involved in, we could always identify an enemy, and often it was a person … Hitler and Mussolini,” he says. “You could always anticipate cutting the head off the snake, getting a nation state to capitulate and ending the conflict. As the GWOT went on, it was clear this movement was a snake without a head.” 

As terrorist organizations used the internet to radicalize and recruit enemy combatants, Gen. Gould says the nation’s military faced a “different type of battle.” He adds the radical Islamic mentality confounded leadership. 

“We realized that there are two completely different ways of looking at war and peace and valuing human life,” he says. “The suicide bombers and the suicide attacks were not in our Western way of thinking. We don’t understand that mindset.” While the initial learning curve was significant, Gen. Gould says U.S. forces have learned many lessons over the past 25 years. 

“The No. 1 lesson is that readiness is the key,” he explains. “When defense budgets go up and down, education and training fall off because the money isn’t available. We may have the best equipment in the world, but if we don’t have the money to support the flying hour program, our pilots and the maintainers become less prepared. I think we’ve learned that we need to be ready on a moment’s notice … for any type of contingency that might pop up anywhere in the world.”

For Lt. Col. Caitlin Reilly ’07, the goal was to study engineering and eventually become an astronaut. “Once I started my engineering coursework, I quickly realized it wasn’t where my strengths or passions aligned,” she says. “For a while, I wasn’t sure where I fit and even considered leaving the Academy.” 

That all changed when Col. Reilly received an incentive flight in an F-16 during an Operation Air Force experience in her two-degree summer. “A day spent with a fighter squadron gave me a renewed sense of purpose,” she recalls. 

After pilot training, Col. Reilly flew the C-130H for Air Mobility Command before cross-training into the U-28 with Air Force Special Operations Command.

“I spent the majority of my career supporting counterterrorism operations, completing 10 deployments across CENTCOM, AFRICOM, SOUTHCOM and INDOPACOM,” she says. “Throughout that journey, I was fortunate to serve alongside incredible teammates and contribute to missions that had a meaningful impact.” 

She adds the training she received at the Academy focused on building leaders of character who could perform under pressure, make sound decisions and lead others through uncertainty. Those fundamentals proved important for the fight ahead. 

“I don’t think I fully appreciated that the Global War on Terrorism would define so much of my career,” Col. Reilly says. “Early in my career, I viewed the Global War on Terrorism as something that could be decisively won. Over time, both experience and study have changed that perspective.”

While military operations can achieve significant tactical and operational success, Col. Reilly says she now realizes the conditions that allow violent extremism are incredibly complex. 

“That has given me a greater appreciation for both the role of military power and the importance of addressing the broader challenges that contribute to instability,” she says. “I believe the GWOT will remain an enduring challenge rather than a conflict with a clearly defined finish line.” 

Over the past few years, Col. Reilly has received the Mackay Trophy (for a 2018 mission in Afghanistan) and the 2019 Col. James Jabara Airmanship Award (for three deployments over two years) recognizing her crew’s heroic actions in challenging situations. 

“Looking back, I’m proud of the small part I’ve played,” she says. “Policies and strategies naturally evolve over time, but our responsibility was always to execute the mission we were given with professionalism and excellence. I believe we did that well.”

Col. Brett Black ’06 entered the Academy a year after 9/11. 

“The attacks ultimately strengthened my desire to serve and be in the Air Force,” he says. “I wanted to be a fighter pilot … knowing that there was something we could do about the enemy that attacked us.” 

As a firstie, Col. Black served as fall Cadet Wing commander. He admits he “felt the weight of the position” as his classmates faced certain deployment in the Global War on Terrorism. 

He applauds the warrior focus that then-Commandant of Cadets, Brig. Gen. Johnny Weida ’78, instilled across the Cadet Wing during those years. He also credits Academy instructors, some of whom had recently returned from deployments early in the GWOT era, for preparing cadets for the ongoing fight. 

“I thought the Academy did a really great job of teaching ethical decision-making,” he recalls. “A lot of times we would be in M-5, given a scenario and told to make a decision. You didn’t really understand how significant that was until later when you actually had to make a decision under stress. If you’re teaching people how to make the right decisions and lead, that’s really what you need to be successful.”

Col. Black says he initially wanted to fly the A-10, but after graduation he flew the F-15E Strike Eagle. He transitioned to the F-35 and F-22 after that. He deployed to Enduring Freedom twice and Inherent Resolve once in the years that followed. “I’m definitely proud to have been a part of the Global War on Terrorism,” he says. 

The ethical decision-making process he’d learned at USAFA was particularly helpful during his first deployment to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan in 2011. 

“There was a sign above the door that said, ‘The mission is an 18-year-old with a rifle — everything else is support,’” he remembers. “That reminded us why we were there.” He and his team responded frequently to stressful situations with troops in contact with enemy combatants and were required to make split decisions about how to respond. 

Later, during Operation Inherent Resolve, Col. Black flew a consequential sortie in 2017 with Andrew Gray ’06, the spring Cadet Wing commander during firstie year. 

“That was probably one of the coolest flying experiences I’ve had, being able to support troops along with a classmate and friend,” he says.

Brig. Gen. (Ret.) S. Taco Gilbert ’78 assumed his role as USAFA commandant in August 2001. Just days later, he and his team faced a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. 

Immediately, there was debate about how best to ramp up security across the Academy. Cadets were assigned to guard duty at dorm entrances, and discussions began about building a fence around key areas of the installation. 

“The Academy was very open, so we wanted to fence in the Cadet Area,” Gen. Gilbert recalls. “There was a not insignificant disagreement on where the fence line should run.” Gen. Gilbert hoped the fence would extend around the Cadet Gym, so cadets could walk freely from Vandenberg Hall to classes and physical training. Others wanted to keep the gym outside the cordon, making it easier for the public and sports campers to access the building. “I ended up losing this one,” he admits. 

As security measures tightened, Gen. Gilbert says his team turned their focus toward reinvigorating the warrior ethos throughout the Cadet Wing. To better prepare cadets for the future fight, Gen. Gilbert says his team brought in speakers who had recently deployed and could talk about the complexities of the emerging GWOT era. 

By the end of his tenure as commandant, Gen. Gilbert says the warrior mindset was firmly instilled into the Cadet Wing. 

For the remainder of his career, he spent significant time in the Pentagon and at Air Mobility Command developing strategic plans for the future of the Air Force. A highlight, he says, was helping preserve the F-22 program. “Certainly, everything we did was influenced by the GWOT era — from the operations that we supported to the investments that we made around the globe,” he says. 

He admits that he never expected the fight to last for more than 25 years, but the ongoing threat requires that motivating warriors continues to be a priority. “I think there will always be combatants who realize they cannot compete head-to-head with the United States, and therefore they will seek unconventional, asymmetric advantages anywhere they can find them — whether that’s a car bomb or a drone or a cyberattack,” he says. “We are in the unenviable position of being required to not only be prepared for a major force-on-force conflict, but also for these lesser conflicts.” 

But he believes the Air Force and its sister services are up to the task. “It’s a very dynamic world that we’re leaving to younger people than me to face,” he says. “As hard as that is, I’m optimistic because of the talent that is out there. The challenge for our Air Force is to identify, develop and exploit that talent.”

When Dilts arrived at the Academy, he wasn’t sure his class would join the Global War on Terrorism upon graduation. Threats on the homeland had waned since 9/11, as the nation’s military had successfully engaged terrorist organizations and the nation states that supported them. 

Within days of his arrival at USAFA, however, Dilts recalls sitting down for a meal at Mitchell Hall when news spread of a deadly terrorist attack on London’s public transportation system. “It was another reminder that attacks were still going on,” he says. “We didn’t feel like we were going to miss the opportunity to serve in combat or that there wasn’t a purpose for us anymore.” 

He went on to fly the CV-22 Osprey, deploying nine times since 2013. “I was excited to finally go do what I had been thinking about for 12 years,” he says of his GWOT flying missions. “We were going after our nation’s enemies, where they’re training and equipping, rather than waiting for them to come to us. But I was stepping into the unknown since the war was different in different places and evolving at different levels of intensity.” 

During his 16-year military career (12 on active duty and four as a reservist), Dilts says he and his fellow USAFA graduates have remained laser-focused on defeating an ever-evolving and unpredictable enemy. “Dealing with Islamic extremism has been our primary focus,” he says. “Everything else was more of a sideshow. Not that the larger state actors aren’t still a threat, but they’re just not as much of an immediate threat.”

Dilts says he expects the war on terror ism to persist but hopes peace will eventually be achieved. “There are smarter people that are not in the military who can figure out how to stamp out the ideologies that drive people to attack us,” he says. “As for the ones who are already convinced they need to attack us, we can go get those guys for now. Hopefully the political leadership can take care of that bigger picture.” 

Dilts, who received the 2021 Col. James Jabara Airmanship Award, says he remains proud to have been a part of the GWOT era during his career. These days, he’s an instructor in the Academy’s Powered Flight Program, offering his personal perspectives and advice to the next generation of cadets who will likely join the fight in a few short years.