The pace of activity for the 192nd was ended with the September 11 attacks of 2001 . The United States ' responses to those attacks , Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Enduring Freedom , dominated the Virginia ANG in the following months . During the attacks on 9/11 , two Virginia Air National Guard F-16C fighters were scrambled with live 20 mm guns to intercept and recover Attorney General John Ashcroft to the Richmond International Airport and to respond as required to any known hijacked aircraft . Ashcroft ended up landing in DC and the Virginia fighters responded to ATC requests for visual identification of aircraft over the DC area . Eventually , the two fighters landed at Langley AFB and were of the first to be loaded with live missiles and flown in support of the newly created Operation Noble Eagle . More than 400 ANG members were called to active duty for time frames ranging up to two years , marking a period of prolonged intensity at the Air Guard base unmatched since the Berlin call-up of 1961-62
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Virginia Air National Guard