Before 9:58 a.m. September 11, 2001: Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Myers Talks to His Executive Assistant and Is Updated on the Pentagon Attack

General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks on the phone with Colonel Matthew Klimow, his executive assistant, as he is being driven back to the Pentagon from a meeting on Capitol Hill and is given an update on what is happening. Klimow, who is at the Pentagon, saw the news of the crashes at the World Trade Center on television and learned that an aircraft had crashed into his building when this was reported over the air threat conference. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9-11; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] Myers was on Capitol Hill for a meeting with Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) when he learned of the crashes at the WTC (see Shortly Before 9:00 a.m. September 11, 2001 and (After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). He was informed of the Pentagon attack shortly after it occurred, as he was making his way back to the Pentagon (see Shortly After 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; Council on Foreign Relations, 6/29/2006; American Forces Press Service, 9/9/2011] In response to this news, he promptly calls Klimow from his car to verify what happened.
Executive Assistant Describes the Commotion at the Pentagon – Klimow answers the phone immediately. He tells Myers that people are running around and shouting in the E Ring—the outermost corridor of the Pentagon—and all the fire alarms are going off. Myers asks him if he is okay. “Yes, sir,” Klimow replies. The aircraft that hit the Pentagon “must have hit on the west side of the building, near the helo pad,” he explains. He says the White House has mentioned that the combatant commanders will probably want to increase the terrorist threat condition—the “Threatcon”—as they see fit. “If terrorists were executing a complex and massive attack today, our isolated naval, air, and ground bases overseas might be especially vulnerable, so raising the Threatcon was essential,” Myers will later comment.
Myers Says He Is ‘Coming in’ to the Pentagon – Klimow says the FBI has been designated the lead civilian agency in the crisis, with the military standing by as required if the terrorist attacks should involve weapons of mass destruction, meaning chemical, biological, or radiological weapons. Realizing he needs to be where the military has the appropriate command and control apparatus to respond to the attacks, Myers asks Klimow if the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon is up and running. Klimow says it is. “We’re coming in,” Myers tells Klimow. “I’ll be there in three minutes,” he says and adds, “Meet me at the River Entrance.” [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9-11; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] Myers’s car then heads across the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. As it does, Myers notices black smoke rising up from the Pentagon in the distance. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; Council on Foreign Relations, 6/29/2006; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 11] After putting down the phone, Klimow will head to the Pentagon’s River Entrance and wait there until Myers arrives (see (Shortly Before 9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012]