Atlantic fleet deploys to defend eastern seaboard

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- The military boosted security across the country to the highest levels Tuesday after terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.\n"We have been attacked like we haven't since Pearl Harbor," Adm. Robert J. Natter said at the Norfolk Navy base.\nPresident Bush ordered the nation's military to "high-alert status," and vowed to "hunt down and punish those responsible" for the attacks, which were expected to carry a high death toll.\nThe president was in Florida at the time of the attacks and was flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. Congressional leaders were led to the safety of an undisclosed location, and military aircraft were reported patrolling the skies above the capital.\nNatter, commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, sent Navy ships to the New York and Washington, D.C., areas to assist with air defense and medical needs. He wouldn't disclose details about the deployment.\nNatter placed naval installations under his command on the highest security condition. He is in charge of 188 ships, 1,223 aircraft, 37 shore stations and more than 125,000 sailors and Marines and civilian employees. The Atlantic Fleet provides combat-ready forces to support American and NATO commanders in regions of conflict throughout the world.\nNavy officials would not give details about security measures, but Atlantic Fleet spokesman Mark McDonald acknowledged that some measures include banning anyone but essential personnel at the naval base, the world's largest.\nAround the country, fighters, airborne radar and refueling planes were scrambled, according to an air national guard spokesman at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.\nThe North American Aerospace Defense Command was also on its highest alert.\n"We have all of our air sovereignty aircraft -- fighters, surveillance and other support aircraft -- ready to respond," NORAD said in a statement.\nThe U.S. portion of the St. Lawrence Seaway was also closed, said Lynn Duerod, spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit.\nEarlier this summer, all three Army bases in Hampton Roads, including Fort Eustis and Fort Story, began restricting public access for security reasons. The bases did so under an order affecting major Army installations around the country.