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Operation Eagle Assist began following the September 11 attacks on October 9, 2001, after the North Atlantic Council's October 4 decision to operationalize Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. In total, 830 crew members from 13 NATO nations executed 360 operational sorties, totaling nearly 4300 hours, over the skies of the United States in NATO AWACS aircraft.
The decision to terminate what was NATO's first deployment "in the defense of one of its member countries"[1] "was made on the basis of upgrades to the U.S. air defense posture, enhanced cooperation between U.S. civil and military authorities, and on mandatory evaluations of homeland security requirements."
The operation ended on May 16, 2002.