Troops, Embassies on Alert Amid Attacks

N E W   Y O R K, Sept. 11 -- American installations around the world stepped up their security measures, and military forces re-deployed in the wake of today's wave of terrorist attacks on targets around the nation.

Four passenger planes were apparently hijacked today in acts of terrorism. Two crashed into the twin towers of New York City's World Trade Center, and one crashed into the Pentagon outside the nation's capital. The last aircraft crashed in western Pennsylvania.

The aircraft carriers USS George Washington and the USS John F. Kennedy left their ports today, headed for the coast off New York to protect it from any further attack.

Five other ships also put to sea — guided-missile destroyers and frigates — and the USS Comfort left its port in Baltimore with a medical crew from Bethesda Naval Hospital, presumably to help in rescue efforts in New York.

The National Guard mobilized all its troops in the New York City area as well.

In Washington, authorities deployed soldiers, including a regiment of light infantry.

Threatcon Delta

American military installations abroad said they were at a high level of alert.

Fighters, airborne radar and refueling planes around the nation were scrambled, all unnecessary military flights were canceled, and North American Aerospace Defense Command was on its highest alert.

Meanwhile, at military bases across the country, officials said only essential military personnel would be given access.

NATO and SHAPE, NATO's operational school in Oberammergau, Germany, said they had not received any specific threat, but they had evacuated all nonessential personnel as a protective measure.

NATO ambassadors in Brussels, Belgium, planned to hold a meeting to discuss the attacks.

The U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany, said all U.S. forces in Europe had "taken increased forces protection measures" and had gone to Force Protection Level Delta, among the highest levels of alert.

The U.S. permanent air fighter base in Aviano, Italy, which receives its orders from Stuttgart, confirmed that it was on a Delta state of alert.