Sep 10, 2026 · 20 min · 8 segments
**Join us for a special 9/11 episode of The Front Line,** featuring The Adjutant General of Pennsylvania Maj. Gen. John Pippy and CSM Shawn Phillips. As we mark the **25th anniversary of Sept. 11…
John PippyGuest
Shawn PhillipsGuest
Angela WatsonHost
I'll start, I think, because I think you've got to look at it from two perspectives.
The strategic side, which is what I'll cover in that SSR major, maybe talk a little bit about the soldier, what the impacts were for them.
But if you think about it, 9-11 was almost phase two because I was commissioned in 1992 as an officer right after the Gulf War.
And that's when we transitioned and we learned from the Gulf War that the Guard and the Reserve weren't necessarily trained to a standard they needed to be trained.
It took six, sometimes longer, to validate units before they could get into a fight.
When 9-11 hit, we had already seen about a decade of guys like me who are on active duty now becoming members of the Guard and Reserve and taking that, but we became an operational force, as you mentioned.
Since 9-11, as a matter of fact, at the earliest portions, it was guard units that were up in the air protecting, they were the only ones flying.
It was guard soldiers on the ground protecting our critical infrastructure and our airports and all those different things.
And we trained and we got the money and the resources to train to the standard because there's no large-scale conflict you can have where the guard isn't a part of the fight.
And to a point now, at any major operation that's named or unnamed, you'll see a guard component.
And that has changed how we look at ourselves, how we train, and then also, you know, what we ask of our traditional guard soldiers.
So, as the Adjutant General mentioned, I was actually part of Desert Shield, Desert Storm.
I did deploy, and we mobilized a lot differently, and it was a very small percentage of Guard that even took part in that mobilization.
Of course, it made us a little more relevant, but we were not near prepared to, you know, go into a conflict like the Global War on Terrorism.
I can remember when we spun up for the global war, the train up was still fairly long, at least initially.
I'll start, I think, because I think you've got to look at it from two perspectives.
The strategic side, which is what I'll cover in that SSR major, maybe talk a little bit about the soldier, what the impacts were for them.
But if you think about it, 9-11 was almost phase two because I was commissioned in 1992 as an officer right after the Gulf War.
And that's when we transitioned and we learned from the Gulf War that the Guard and the Reserve weren't necessarily trained to a standard they needed to be trained.
It took six, sometimes longer, to validate units before they could get into a fight.
When 9-11 hit, we had already seen about a decade of guys like me who are on active duty now becoming members of the Guard and Reserve and taking that, but we became an operational force, as you mentioned.
Since 9-11, as a matter of fact, at the earliest portions, it was guard units that were up in the air protecting, they were the only ones flying.
It was guard soldiers on the ground protecting our critical infrastructure and our airports and all those different things.
And we trained and we got the money and the resources to train to the standard because there's no large-scale conflict you can have where the guard isn't a part of the fight.
And to a point now, at any major operation that's named or unnamed, you'll see a guard component.
And that has changed how we look at ourselves, how we train, and then also, you know, what we ask of our traditional guard soldiers.
So, as the Adjutant General mentioned, I was actually part of Desert Shield, Desert Storm.
I did deploy, and we mobilized a lot differently, and it was a very small percentage of Guard that even took part in that mobilization.
Of course, it made us a little more relevant, but we were not near prepared to, you know, go into a conflict like the Global War on Terrorism.
I can remember when we spun up for the global war, the train up was still fairly long, at least initially.
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