At the staging office at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Italy, First Lieutenant Sam Arieef, US Air Force (USAF), (left), C-17A Globemaster III pilot, 14th Airlift Squadron, Charleston AFB, South Carolina, and Captain Mike Lineberger, USAF, C-17A pilot, 300th Airlift Squadron, Air Force Reserve, Charleston AFB, brief Major General George N. Williams, Commander, 21st Air Force. Air Force members from around the world deployed to NAS Sigonella in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. In response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 at the New York World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President George W. Bush initiated Operation ENDURING FREEDOM in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), fighting terrorism abroad.