General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks briefly over the phone with General Ralph Eberhart, the commander of NORAD, who updates him on what is happening and the actions NORAD is taking in response to the terrorist attacks. [Armed Forces Radio And Television Service, 10/17/2001; 9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 
] Myers is on Capitol Hill, where he has been meeting with Senator Max Cleland (D-GA). He is aware of the two crashes at the World Trade Center and realizes they were terrorist attacks (see Shortly Before 9:00 a.m. September 11, 2001 and (After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 7-9] Eberhart, meanwhile, is in his office at NORAD’s headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He, too, is aware of the crashes at the WTC and has determined that a coordinated terrorist attack is underway (see (9:03 a.m.-9:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 3/1/2004; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 465] He called Colonel Matthew Klimow, Myers’s executive assistant, who is at the Pentagon, and said he urgently wanted to speak to the vice chairman (see (Before 9:29 a.m.) September 11, 2001). Klimow then called Myers and let him know that NORAD wanted to talk to him (see (Before 9:29 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012]
Myers Has to Talk on an Unsecured Line – As Myers is coming out of Cleland’s office following his meeting with the senator, his military aide, Captain Chris Donahue, approaches him and says Eberhart is on his cell phone and wants to talk to him. “In this emergency, I had to forgo the luxury of a secure encrypted Red Switch phone and use Donahue’s cell,” Myers will later comment. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9] Myers and Eberhart then have a “short conversation.”
Eberhart Describes the ‘Confused’ Situation in the Air – Eberhart updates Myers on the current situation. He says the two towers of the WTC have been hit and there are “several hijack codes in the system.” [9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ] By this, he means that “the transponders in the aircraft are talking to the ground and they’re saying… ‘We’re being hijacked,’” Myers will explain. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002] However, none of the pilots of the planes hijacked this morning punched the emergency four-digit code that would indicate a hijacking into their planes’ transponders (see (8:13 a.m.-9:28 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [CNN, 9/11/2001; Newsday, 9/13/2001] It is therefore unclear what “hijack codes” Eberhart is referring to. In one interview, Myers will recall Eberhart saying that the situation in the air is “confused.” He says there are “aircraft squawking that they had been hijacked” and he is “going to land them all at the nearest suitable base to sort it out.” [American Forces Press Service, 9/9/2011] On another occasion, Myers will recall him saying, “The decision I’m going to make is, we’re going to land everybody and we’ll sort it out when we get them on the ground.” [Council on Foreign Relations, 6/29/2006]
Eberhart and Myers Don’t Discuss ‘Rules of Engagement’ – Eberhart says NORAD has scrambled fighter jets in response to the hijackings (see 8:46 a.m. September 11, 2001 and 9:24 a.m. September 11, 2001). However, the two men do not discuss the issue of “rules of engagement” for the fighter pilots during this conversation. Indeed, Myers makes no decisions and takes no action at this time. Instead, Eberhart does most of the talking. Myers will recall that he “mainly listened” during the call. He tells Eberhart he needs to get to the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon because he cannot communicate from a cell phone, presumably referring to the fact that it is an unsecured line. “I’m going to head back to the Pentagon. I’ll talk to you there,” he says. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; 9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ] “Get back to the Pentagon,” Eberhart tells him. [9/11 Commission, 3/1/2004]
Call Occurs before 9:30 a.m. – The time when this call occurs is unclear. At some time after talking to Myers, Eberhart will head out to NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center (see (Between 9:35 a.m. and 10:35 a.m.) September 11, 2001). He will estimate that he leaves Peterson Air Force Base at “approximately” 9:30 a.m. If correct, this would mean the call occurs before 9:30 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 3/1/2004 ; 9/11 Commission, 3/1/2004] Myers, meanwhile, will be vague about when it occurs, telling the 9/11 Commission only that it takes place after the second crash at the WTC, sometime between 9:03 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Furthermore, while Klimow’s account of this morning’s events will imply that it occurs after Klimow called the vice chairman and let him know that NORAD wanted to talk to him, in his 2009 memoir, Myers will describe talking to Eberhart before he receives the call from Klimow. [9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] Myers will subsequently head back to the Pentagon. [Council on Foreign Relations, 6/29/2006] He does so “immediately” after talking to Eberhart, he will say. [Armed Forces Radio And Television Service, 10/17/2001] He will learn about the attack on the Pentagon, which occurs at 9:37 a.m. (see 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001), around the time he is leaving the building and getting into his car on Capitol Hill (see Shortly After 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; 9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ]
9:33 a.m. September 11, 2001: FAA Notifies Video Conference United 93 Is Suspected Hijack
FAA Administrator Jane Garvey notifies the video conference chaired by counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke that all aircraft have been ordered to land at the nearest field and reads a list of potential hijacks including Delta 1989 and United 93. [Clarke, 2004, pp. 5] Although, according to Clarke’s account, both General Richard Myers and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld are present at the conference at this point, the 9/11 Commission will later claim that the military was not notified about the hijacking of United 93 until over half an hour later (see 10:03 a.m. September 11, 2001).
9:36 a.m.-10:06 a.m. September 11, 2001: Military Claims It Is Tracking Flight 93 and Ready to Shoot It Down; 9/11 Commission Says Otherwise
According to the later claims of several senior officials, the US military is tracking Flight 93 as it heads east and is ready to shoot it down if necessary. 
According to Brigadier General Montague Winfield, the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center (NMCC) has “received the report from the FAA that Flight 93 had turned off its transponder, had turned, and was now heading towards Washington, DC.” Winfield will add, “The decision was made to try to go intercept Flight 93.” [ABC News, 9/11/2002] General Richard Myers, the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will write that in the NMCC, “We learned that there was apparently a fourth hijacked aircraft, United Airlines Flight 93 out of Newark, bound nonstop for San Francisco. Like the other planes, it had switched off its transponder, making it much harder if not impossible to track on ground radar.” [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 152] Major General Larry Arnold, the commander of the Continental United States NORAD Region, will say, “I was personally anxious to see what 93 was going to do, and our intent was to intercept it.” Three fighters have taken off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia (see (9:25 a.m.-9:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001). According to Arnold, “we launched the aircraft out of Langley to put them over top of Washington, DC, not in response to American Airline 77, but really to put them in position in case United 93 were to head that way.” [9/11 Commission, 5/23/2003] He says, “as we discussed it in the conference call, we decided not to move fighters toward 93 until it was closer because there could have been other aircraft coming in,” but adds, “I had every intention of shooting down United 93 if it continued to progress toward Washington, DC… whether we had authority or not.” [Filson, 2003, pp. 73] Colonel Robert Marr, the battle commander at NORAD’s Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), is reportedly “focused on United Flight 93, headed straight toward Washington.” He will concur with Arnold, saying: “United Airlines Flight 93 would not have hit Washington, DC. He would have been engaged and shot down before he got there.” [Filson, 2003, pp. 73] Marr and Arnold will both say they were tracking Flight 93 even earlier on, while it was still heading west (see Shortly Before 9:36 a.m. September 11, 2001).
Yet, contradicting these claims, the 9/11 Commission will conclude that the military only learns about Flight 93 around the time it crashes. It says the NMCC learns of the hijacking at 10:03 a.m. (see 10:03 a.m. September 11, 2001). Based upon official records, including recordings of the NEADS operations floor, it says NEADS never follows Flight 93 on radar and is first alerted to it at 10:07 a.m. (see 10:05 a.m.-10:08 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 30-31, 34 and 42; Washington Post, 4/30/2006; Vanity Fair, 8/1/2006]
Shortly After 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001: Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Myers Heads back to the Pentagon and Learns of the Attack There
General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is notified that the Pentagon has been attacked as he is leaving one of the Senate office buildings on Capitol Hill, on his way back there. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; American Forces Press Service, 9/9/2011] Myers has been on Capitol Hill for a meeting with Senator Max Cleland (D-GA). He is aware of the crashes at the World Trade Center and realizes they were terrorist attacks (see Shortly Before 9:00 a.m. September 11, 2001 and (After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 7-9] Colonel Matthew Klimow, his executive assistant, called him from the Pentagon and advised him to return to the Pentagon (see (Before 9:29 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] He has also talked over the phone with General Ralph Eberhart, the commander of NORAD, and Eberhart, too, told him to “get back to the Pentagon” (see (Before 9:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ; 9/11 Commission, 3/1/2004] As Myers is heading back to the Pentagon, he learns about the attack there, which occurred at 9:37 a.m. (see 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). It is unclear who tells him what happened. He will later recall, in some accounts, being told about the attack by a man he will refer to as his “security guy” or his “security officer.” But he will tell one interviewer that he learns of it from his driver, Dan Downey. He is told: “Sir, just got a call from the office. The Pentagon’s been hit.” He is apparently provided with no details of what the attack involved. [Council on Foreign Relations, 6/29/2006; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9; Radio America, 4/14/2009] The exact time when this occurs is unclear. Myers will tell NBC News that he learns of the Pentagon attack “as we’re leaving the building” on Capitol Hill. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002] In a radio interview, he will say he learns of it “as I get ready to go to my car and leave Capitol Hill.” [Radio America, 4/14/2009] But he will tell the 9/11 Commission that he receives word of it “as he [is] getting into his car.” [9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ] And in his 2009 memoir, he will recall learning of it during the drive back to the Pentagon, “[a]s we raced away from Capitol Hill.” He will immediately call Klimow and receive confirmation from him that an attack occurred at the Pentagon (see (Before 9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012]
After 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001: Deputy Defense Secretary Wolfowitz Leaves the Pentagon but Then Returns and Goes to the Command Center
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz is initially evacuated from the Pentagon after it is attacked but he subsequently returns to the building and joins other senior officials in the National Military Command Center (NMCC). Wolfowitz saw the second crash at the World Trade Center on the television in his office at the Pentagon, but did nothing in response to it and instead continued with a routine meeting (see (9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001).
Wolfowitz Thought the Pentagon Attack Was an Earthquake – He was still in his office when the Pentagon was attacked, at 9:37 a.m. (see 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). Although his office is on the opposite side of the building to where the attack occurred, he felt the building shake from the impact. He also heard the crash. “I think I heard it, a dull, thud-like noise,” he will later recall. And yet, despite being aware of the crashes at the WTC, he initially thought the shaking was caused by an earthquake, rather than another attack. “I didn’t put the two things together in my mind,” he will comment. He therefore initially did nothing in response. “It was clear something had happened, but it still wasn’t clear that there was anything to do,” he will say.
Wolfowitz Is Evacuated from the Pentagon – Wolfowitz only reacts to the incident when he hears someone saying a bomb has gone off on the other side of the Pentagon and the building needs to be evacuated. By now, alarm bells are sounding and people are streaming out of the building. A Marine sergeant who works outside Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s office is anxious to get Wolfowitz away from the Pentagon. The deputy secretary of defense is therefore evacuated from the building and then gathers with others on the parade ground in front of it. After spending about 10 minutes there, he receives the instruction to return to the Pentagon, apparently from someone in Rumsfeld’s office. He therefore gets into his car, is driven to an entrance, and walks into the building. [Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 4/19/2002 ; PBS Frontline, 4/22/2002; Vanity Fair, 5/9/2003]
Wolfowitz Goes to the Command Center – After returning to the Pentagon, Wolfowitz possibly goes to the Executive Support Center on the building’s third floor. Victoria Clarke, the assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, will recall seeing him there sometime after the Pentagon is hit. [Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 7/2/2002 ] Wolfowitz will say only that he goes to the NMCC after returning to the Pentagon. The time he arrives there is unstated. Other senior officials with him in the NMCC include Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the NMCC, Wolfowitz participates in a secure video conference. [Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense, 4/19/2002 ; PBS Frontline, 4/22/2002; Vanity Fair, 5/9/2003] After spending some time there, he will be flown to Raven Rock, the alternate command center outside Washington, DC (see (11:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 132; Vogel, 2007, pp. 441; Graff, 2017, pp. 347-348]
9:46 a.m. September 11, 2001: NMCC Teleconference Still Looking to Include Defense Heads Rumsfeld and Myers
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s office, and acting Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Richard Myers’ office, report to the NMCC teleconference that they are still trying to track down Rumsfeld and Myers, respectively, and bring them into the conference. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004] Rumsfeld is apparently outside the Pentagon looking at the Flight 77 crash site (see Between 9:38 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. September 11, 2001), though counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke suggests Rumsfeld is elsewhere in the Pentagon for much of the time (see (Between 9:38 a.m. and 9:45 a.m.) September 11, 2001). Myers’ whereabouts in the period after the Pentagon crash have not been fully explained (see (9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001). Rumsfeld and Myers do not enter the NMCC until about 10:30 a.m. (see (10:30 a.m.) September 11, 2001).
Between 9:50 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. September 11, 2001: Acting Joint Chiefs Chairman Myers Wants Clarification of Rules of Engagement for Fighter Pilots; Clarke Wants This Issued Promptly
Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers wants clear rules of engagement for military fighter pilots, according to counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke. In his book Against All Enemies, Clarke will describe hearing that the president has authorized the military to shoot down hostile aircraft some time between about 9:45 and 9:56 (see (Between 9:45 a.m. and 9:56 a.m.) September 11, 2001). From the White House Situation Room, where he is located, he then gets the attention of those on the video conference screen for the Pentagon, and informs them of this decision. Myers asks, “Okay, shoot down aircraft, but what are the ROE [rules of engagement]?” As Clarke will comment, “It was one thing to say it’s okay to shoot down a hijacked aircraft threatening to kill people on the ground, but we needed to give pilots more specific guidelines than that.” Clarke asks his colleague Franklin Miller and Marine Colonel Tom Greenwood—a member of Miller’s staff—to ensure that the Defense Department has “an answer to that question quickly.” He tells them, “I don’t want them delaying while they lawyer that to death.” Clarke recalls that he is then informed: “CNN says car bomb at the State Department. Fire on the Mall near the Capitol.” [Clarke, 2004, pp. 8-9] It is therefore unclear exactly what time he is describing, as CNN first makes the incorrect report of the State Department car bomb at 10:33, but it reports the fire on the Mall at 9:45. [CNN, 9/11/2001; CNN, 9/11/2001; Broadcasting and Cable, 8/26/2002] Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will tell the 9/11 Commission that he works on fashioning the rules of engagement for fighter pilots, in collaboration with Myers, after he enters the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center (NMCC) at around 10:30 (see (10:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 3/23/2004 ] Yet he does not complete and issue these rules until 1:00 p.m. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 465; Cockburn, 2007, pp. 7; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 157-158]
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]
Shortly Before 9:58 a.m. September 11, 2001: Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Myers Reaches the Pentagon and Heads to the Command Center
General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrives at the Pentagon and then heads to the National Military Command Center (NMCC) there. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 151; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] Myers learned of the crashes at the World Trade Center while he was on Capitol Hill for a meeting with Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) (see Shortly Before 9:00 a.m. September 11, 2001 and (After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001) and he learned of the Pentagon attack 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] He talked over the phone with Colonel Matthew Klimow, his executive assistant, as he was being driven to the Pentagon and Klimow then went to the Pentagon’s River Entrance to wait for him to arrive (see (Before 9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 9-11; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012]
Myers Talks to the Deputy Defense Secretary – Myers’s car now pulls up outside the Pentagon and Myers jumps from it. The steps of the River Entrance are crowded with men and women who have evacuated the building, and Klimow is waiting calmly near the door. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 151] Before entering the Pentagon, Myers stops briefly to speak to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who was evacuated from the building after it was attacked (see After 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [PBS Frontline, 4/22/2002; 9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ; 9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004 ] He then grabs Klimow by the arm and the two men make their way through the many Pentagon employees streaming out of the building as they head for the NMCC. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 151; American Forces Press Service, 9/9/2011; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012]
Myers Wants to Quickly Get to the Command Center – In the event of an attack, procedures require the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to go to Site R, an alternate military command center outside Washington, DC, while the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff maintains command at the NMCC. However, since General Henry Shelton, the chairman, is currently out of the country, flying to Europe for a NATO meeting (see 7:15 a.m. September 11, 2001 and (8:50 a.m.-10:00 a.m.) September 11, 2001), Myers is designated acting chairman until he has returned to the United States. Consequently, “my command post had to be in the burning Pentagon,” Myers will later note. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 10] “I wanted to get [to] the National Military Command Center as soon as I could,” he will recall. [MSNBC, 9/11/2002] He and Klimow head up some stairs, and at the top are confronted by two security officers who try to stop them. “I’m sorry, General, we have orders to keep everybody out; the building’s not safe,” one of them says. However, Myers and Klimow ignore them. They push past the two security officers, and continue on their way to the inner rings of the Pentagon and the NMCC. [George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] They will reach the NMCC at around 9:58 a.m. (see (9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [US Department of Defense, 9/11/2001 ; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 38]
9:58 a.m. September 11, 2001: Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Myers Enters the NMCC and Joins the Air Threat Conference
General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrives at the National Military Command Center (NMCC) at the Pentagon and starts participating in the conference call being conducted from there. [US Department of Defense, 9/11/2001 ; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 38; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 151-152] Myers recently arrived at the Pentagon following a meeting on Capitol Hill (see (Shortly Before 9:58 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [MSNBC, 9/11/2002; American Forces Press Service, 9/8/2006] He joined Colonel Matthew Klimow, his executive assistant, at the River Entrance and the two men then headed to the NMCC. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 151; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] The NMCC is the US military’s “worldwide monitoring, crisis response center,” according to Myers. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004 ] It is “a communications hub, a switchboard connecting the Pentagon, the civilian government, and the combatant commanders,” he will later write. Klimow will call it “the nerve center of the Pentagon.” It includes the large Current Actions Center (CAC), which is filled with computer cubicles.
Myers Goes to the Deputy Director’s Office – When Myers and Klimow arrive at the NMCC, they find “soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines” sitting at “their consoles, their telephones, and their computers, manning communication links around the world.” They head to the deputy director for operations’ office, located at one end of the CAC. This small, windowless room, also known as the “DDO shack,” has several desks, a conference table, and lots of telephones. It is where the 24-hour watch takes place and is “the heart of the NMCC,” according to Klimow. In it, Captain Charles Leidig, the acting deputy director for operations, is participating in a conference call. [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 151-152; George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, 8/3/2012] This conference call commenced at 9:29 a.m. as a “significant event conference” (see 9:29 a.m.-9:34 a.m. September 11, 2001) but was upgraded to an “air threat conference” at 9:37 a.m. (see 9:37 a.m.-9:39 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 37] It links the NMCC to NORAD, the White House, and other agencies. [US Department of Defense, 9/11/2001 ; Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 152]
Myers Is Concerned about What Could Happen Next – After arriving in the NMCC, Myers wants to gain “situational awareness.” His first thought is, “What’s next?” [9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ; American Forces Press Service, 9/8/2006] One of his priorities is “looking ahead and giving strategic guidance to make sure we were prepared to handle whatever came next,” he will recall. “We didn’t know at that time if we were in the middle of a several-day long attack, what kind of attacks could come next, or who and what might be targeted,” he will add. [9/11 Commission, 6/17/2004 ]
Myers Discusses Evacuating the Sears Tower – The exact time when Myers reaches the NMCC is unclear. He will estimate that he arrives there between 10:00 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. when he is interviewed by the 9/11 Commission in 2004. [9/11 Commission, 2/17/2004 ] However, the 9/11 Commission will conclude that he joins the air threat conference being run from there shortly before 10:00 a.m. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 38] And evidence will indicate that he in fact reaches the NMCC at around 9:58 a.m. or shortly before then. Leidig will tell the 9/11 Commission that he is “certain that the vice chairman was in the room” when the “Sears Tower issue” was discussed over the air threat conference. He will say he recalls telling Myers there is a recommendation to evacuate the Sears Tower, and Myers saying in response that this is a good idea and the military supports it. [9/11 Commission, 4/29/2004 ] The discussion Leidig will be referring to is apparently one that occurs at 9:58 a.m. At that time, he is recorded saying over the air threat conference, “The vice chairman recommends evacuating [the] Chicago Tower [i.e. the Sears Tower in Chicago] based on the flight plan of one of the possible hijacked aircraft.” [US Department of Defense, 9/11/2001 ; US Department of Defense, 9/11/2001 ] However, after spending only a short time in the NMCC, Myers will leave there in order to search for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (see (9:59 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Myers and McConnell, 2009, pp. 152]
