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News | Sept. 8, 2021

DLA Aviation employees remember 9/11: Alfred Padayao

By DLA Aviation Public Affairs Office

In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the Defense Logistics Agency Aviation Public Affairs Office is running a week-long series Sept 6-11, telling the stories of DLA Aviation employees who remember where they were and what they were doing that fateful day.

Name: Alfred Padayao

Organization: DLA Aviation at Ogden, Utah

What is your job title, and what do you do, specifically? I’m a supervisory general supply specialist, leading a team of eight customer support specialists providing warfighter support to the Air Force A-10 Warthog and C-130 Hercules aircraft assigned to the Depot Maintenance and Repair Program at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.

Please tell where you were and what you were doing on Sept. 11, 2001. I was serving on active duty in the Air Force as a munitions systems specialist and was stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, when the attacks happened. Within 24 hours, we were placed on 12-hour shifts, seven days a week prepping conventional bombs to be shipped to forward locations overseas.

What can we do to ensure future generations never forget that fateful day? We should never forget the sacrifices made that day. This nation has undergone numerous changes and has drifted from the core values that made this nation great.  Everyone’s story should be heard on how these events affected them so future generations can learn what America endured during those troubling times.