A dozen Army officials go ahead with a previously scheduled meeting at the Pentagon, unaware of the attacks in New York, and none of their colleagues interrupt the meeting to alert them to what is happening before the area of the building they are in is hit, at 9:37 a.m. [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 40-41; Vogel, 2007, pp. 429; Creed and Newman, 2008, pp. 18-19; WAMU, 9/9/2011] The meeting is attended by the executive officers for the various directorates and operating agencies of the Army’s Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel (ODCSPER). The executive officers’ meetings are held every other Tuesday, usually in the DCSPER conference room, at the northwest corner of a 100-yard-long cubicle bay on the Pentagon’s second floor.
Numerous Officers Attend Meeting – Today’s meeting is chaired by Colonel Philip McNair, the DCSPER’s executive officer. Those attending include Martha Carden, the DCSPER’s assistant executive officer; Major Stephen Long from Personnel Command; Lieutenant Colonel Robert Grunewald from the Information Management Office; Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Johnson from the Management Support Office; Lois Stevens from the Directorate of Military Personnel Management; Lieutenant Colonel Marion Ward from the Directorate of Plans, Resources, and Operations; Major Regina Grant from the Directorate of Human Resources; and Lieutenant Colonel Marilyn Wills, the DCSPER’s congressional affairs contact officer. Max Beilke from the Retirement Services Office attends the start of the meeting but leaves early to go to another meeting. Two visitors are also attending, to give a presentation at the end of the meeting: Colonel Larry Thomas and Lieutenant Colonel Curtis Nutbrown from the Office of the Director of Information Systems for Command, Control, Communications, and Computers. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 39; Creed and Newman, 2008, pp. 18; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 137-138]
Officers Are Not Alerted to Attacks on the WTC – The executive officers’ meeting starts at 9:00 a.m. [Lofgren, 2011, pp. 145] Those attending take turns to give a brief update on recent activities. Routine issues are discussed this morning, such as a retirement party and an upcoming conference. [Creed and Newman, 2008, pp. 18] However, no one in the conference room knows of the events in New York when the meeting commences. News of the first plane crash at the World Trade Center only begins to circulate in the large cubicle area outside the conference room shortly after the door has been closed on the meeting. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 35, 39] And although many of the workers in the cubicle area then follow the coverage of the attacks on television, none of them interrupt the executive officers’ meeting to alert its participants to what is happening. [Virginian-Pilot, 9/7/2002; Creed and Newman, 2008, pp. 19] “We did not know about the World Trade Center. We had no clue,” Carden will later recall. [Lofgren, 2011, pp. 148] Furthermore, Lieutenant General Timothy Maude, the Army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel—the man who runs the ODCSPER—is alerted to the first crash at the WTC at around 9:00 a.m. and then watches the coverage of the attacks on television, according to Colonel Karl Knoblauch, chief of the officer division in the Directorate of Military Personnel Management. And yet he does not alert his colleagues in the conference room to what is happening. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 51]
‘Large Fireball’ Erupts in Conference Room When the Pentagon Is Attacked – Although the executive officers’ meetings usually last about 30 minutes, today’s meeting is going on for longer than usual. [Lofgren, 2011, pp. 145] At 9:36 a.m., Wills looks at her watch and thinks the meeting is running late. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 39-40; Creed and Newman, 2008, pp. 18-19] A minute later, Flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon one floor below the conference room, passing within 20 feet of the room (see 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Fort Riley Post, 9/5/2002; Vogel, 2007, pp. 436] “[T]here was a tremendous explosion and I saw fire erupt through the ceiling,” McNair will recall. [Lofgren, 2011, pp. 138] “There was a huge explosion to my 3 o’clock along the top of the wall and a large fireball came into the room,” Grunewald will say. [WAMU, 9/9/2011]
Officers Think Explosion Is Caused by a Construction Accident or a Bomb – Since they are unaware of the attacks in New York, those in the executive officers’ meeting have no idea what has happened. “[M]ost of us assumed that a bomb had been detonated,” McNair will say. Because the conference room is in a newly renovated area of the Pentagon, some think the explosion is the result of work being done on the building. “Workmen were still there every day doing stuff,” Carden will recall. “And so many of the people in the conference room thought that, ‘Oh, geez, one of the workers hit a gas line.’” [Lofgren, 2011, pp. 138, 148] McNair wonders if a crane has fallen onto the building, a pipe has burst, or something has collapsed. [Virginian-Pilot, 9/8/2002] Twenty-nine ODCSPER employees are killed and 27 injured in the attack on the Pentagon. [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 43]
Shortly After 9:03 a.m. September 11, 2001: Army’s Crisis Team at the Pentagon Is Activated
The Army’s Crisis Action Team (CAT) at the Pentagon is activated in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center. It is activated on the orders of Major General Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s director of operations, readiness, and mobilization.
General Instructed Colleague to Activate Crisis Team – At around 9:00 a.m., while he was preparing to go to a scheduled meeting, Chiarelli was called by Major General Julian Burns, deputy chief of staff for operations of the US Army Forces Command. Burns asked him if he had seen what had happened at the WTC on the news. Chiarelli looked up at the muted television in his office and then, after turning up the volume, watched the coverage of the crash at the WTC on CNN. He also called to his office Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Stramara, his chief of operations, who is responsible for the CAT. When Stramara arrived, Chiarelli told him, “We need to look at standing up the CAT because I believe we’ve got ourselves a possibility of a mass casualty [incident].” Although Chiarelli was uncertain whether what happened at the WTC had been a terrorist attack, he told Stramara: “Kevin, it’s time to activate the CAT. Get it set up.”
General Said Pentagon Had to Be a Potential Target – As Stramara was about to leave the room, the two men saw the TV coverage of the second hijacked plane, Flight 175, crashing into the WTC (see 9:03 a.m. September 11, 2001). Realizing this was a terrorist attack, Chiarelli pointed out, “If there are other aircraft up there that have been hijacked or if there are other aircraft getting ready to do this, this building [i.e. the Pentagon] has got to be a target.” He asked Stramara, “Who has responsibility for this building?” Stramara responded: “I don’t know. I will check, but first I’ll stand up the CAT.” [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 95-97]
Crisis Team Assembles in Army’s ‘Command and Control Center’ – The CAT, according to author Robert Rossow, is “an organization of subject matter experts from throughout the Army staff who assemble in times of emergency in a special area within the AOC”—the Army Operations Center. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 64] The AOC is located in the basement of the Pentagon, inside a bunker reinforced by steel and concrete 60 feet below the parking lot, and is equipped with state-of-the-art communications equipment, as well as television sets for monitoring news coverage. Chiarelli will describe it as “the Army’s command and control center.” [Washington Post, 8/25/1995; Soldiers, 9/2004] It is “the place that people will migrate” to during an emergency, according to Brigadier General Clyde Vaughn, the Army’s deputy director of operations, readiness, and mobilization. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/12/2002]
Crisis Team Members Are Summoned to Operations Center – When the CAT is activated, according to Rossow, its members “are called to the AOC to man their battle stations.” [Rossow, 2003, pp. 64] A piece of equipment called a “dialogic machine” sends out a telephonic alert to summon Army personnel to join the CAT. The machine automatically calls these people and gives them a prerecorded message, instructing them to report immediately to the CAT floor. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 100] Their mission, according to Rossow, is then “to provide information from their organizations and work issues within their particular area of expertise.” [Rossow, 2003, pp. 64]
Crisis Team Is Activated to Provide Assistance in New York – Chiarelli will subsequently be phoned by General Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, and will only head to the AOC to join the CAT after the call ends (see (Shortly Before 9:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 98] He will tell Shinseki that he has activated the CAT to provide assistance in New York if requested by state and local officials, since he anticipates that the disaster at the WTC will require significant rescue, firefighting, and recovery efforts. [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 134] The CAT will be “formally stood up” at 9:43 a.m., according to Rossow (see 9:43 a.m. September 11, 2001). [Rossow, 2003, pp. 66] It will become “a focal point for all Pentagon activities,” according to Lieutenant Colonel Richard Kotch, who is working in the AOC this morning. [St. Louis Jewish Light, 9/8/2011] Army officers are in fact currently preparing for a CAT exercise, which is scheduled to take place during the forthcoming week, based on the scenario of a plane crashing into the WTC (see (September 4, 2001)). [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 96-97]
Shortly After 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001: Army Vice Chief of Staff Keane Goes to Help People near the Pentagon Crash Site before Heading to His Operations Center
General John Keane, vice chief of staff of the Army, initially goes to assist people near the crash site after the Pentagon is hit but subsequently goes to the Army Operations Center (AOC) in the basement of the Pentagon to help the military respond to the terrorist attacks. Keane ordered Major General Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s director of operations, readiness, and mobilization, to bring the AOC up to full manning after he learned a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center (see (Between 8:49 a.m. and 9:02 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Fordham News, 9/10/2016; Weekly Standard, 9/11/2016] The AOC is “the Army’s command and control center,” according to Chiarelli. [Soldiers, 9/2004] It is “the place that people will migrate” to during an emergency, according to Brigadier General Clyde Vaughn, the Army’s deputy director of operations, readiness, and mobilization. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/12/2002] And yet Keane did not go there himself in response to the attacks on the WTC and was still in his office when the Pentagon was hit. Although his office is located far away from where the attack occurred, it shook violently from the impact and subsequently started filling with smoke.
Keane Tells His Staffers to Go Home – Following the attack, Keane tells his immediate staff to call home and then evacuate. “Look, call your homes right now and make sure everybody knows you’re alright,” he says, “and then I want you to all to leave the building immediately.” He keeps just his executive officer and his aide with him, and decides to head to the scene of the attack. “Let’s go on down there and see if we can help some of these people,” he says. Keane and his colleagues grab some T-shirts, soak them in water, and wrap them around their noses and mouths for protection. They then make their way toward the crash site.
Keane Is Advised to Go to the Operations Center – About 100 yards from it, the smoke becomes thicker. People there are running away from the area of the attack. Keane and his two colleagues take time ensuring that everyone is able to get out of the Pentagon. After a while, though, Keane’s executive officer determines that they should be in the AOC. He tells Keane: “Look, you’ve got to take charge of the Army, so let’s get to the operations center. We’ll leave the recovery to other people.” “I knew immediately that he was right,” Keane will later comment. He and his two colleagues therefore go to the AOC. [Fordham News, 9/10/2016; Weekly Standard, 9/11/2016]
Keane Provides ‘Leadership and Guidance’ – When they get there, Keane talks to Chiarelli, who went to the operations center before the Pentagon was hit, and asks him for a situation report. Chiarelli says what he currently knows about the attacks. “I was able to tell [Keane] basically what had occurred at the World Trade Center,” he will recall, adding, “We were able to tell him that the [Pentagon] had been hit—he knew the building had been hit—and that there were other aircraft in the air.” [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 100] Keane subsequently provides “leadership and guidance” to the personnel in the AOC, according to a report published by the Army. [Christopher N. Koontz, 2011, pp. 56 
] He apparently stays in the operations center for the rest of the day. [Fordham News, 9/10/2016; Weekly Standard, 9/11/2016] Other senior Army leaders also go to the AOC following the attack on the Pentagon. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Rossow, 2003, pp. 67; Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 135]
9:43 a.m. September 11, 2001: Army’s Crisis Team at the Pentagon Is ‘Formally Stood Up’ and Responds to Attacks
The Army’s Crisis Action Team (CAT) at the Pentagon is “formally stood up” and its members respond to the terrorist attacks. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 66; Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 135; St. Louis Jewish Light, 9/8/2011] Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Stramara activated the CAT after the second hijacked aircraft crashed into the World Trade Center, at 9:03 a.m., on the orders of Major General Peter Chiarelli, the Army’s director of operations, readiness, and mobilization (see (Shortly After 9:03 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 96-97] Chiarelli’s intention was, he said, “to respond to the contingency in New York if requested by state and local officials.” [Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 134] The CAT is now “formally stood up,” according to author Robert Rossow, although exactly what this means is unstated.
Senior Officials Come to Operations Center – When the CAT is activated, its members assemble in the Army Operations Center (AOC) in the basement of the Pentagon. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 64, 66] Numerous senior officials now start arriving in the AOC. These include General John Keane, vice chief of staff of the Army; Brigadier General Clyde Vaughn, deputy director of operations, readiness, and mobilization; Major General Philip Kensinger, assistant deputy chief of staff for operations and plans; and Thomas White, the secretary of the Army. More senior officers come to the AOC than would usually be the case in a crisis, according to Chiarelli, “because a large portion of the Army section of the building had been destroyed” in the attack on the Pentagon. “People had been forced out of their space,” he will later say, and “were looking for some place to go.” [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; US Army Center of Military History, 2/12/2002; Goldberg et al., 2007, pp. 135; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 98-101; Fox News, 9/12/2011]
Operations Center Personnel Unaware that a Plane Hit the Pentagon – Chiarelli arrived at the AOC shortly before the Pentagon was hit (see (Shortly Before 9:37 a.m.) September 11, 2001) and, he will recall, heard a “muffled noise” when the attack occurred, at 9:37 a.m. (see 9:37 a.m. September 11, 2001). [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 98-99] Colonel Henry Huntley, who also arrived at the AOC around the time of the Pentagon attack, will recall, “Alarms started going off and there was an announcement that an explosion had gone off in the building.” [Daily American, 7/8/2008] However, those in the AOC are apparently initially unaware that a plane has hit their building. Vaughn, who witnessed the attack from the road outside the Pentagon, calls Major George Sterling, the AOC commandant, and says to him, “You know that you’ve been hit by an airplane?” Sterling responds, “Is that what happened?” Vaughn will comment that “many people… didn’t find out for some time” that the Pentagon had been hit by an airplane. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/12/2002; Rossow, 2003, pp. 15-16; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 3-4]
Support Agency Commander Unaware that the US Is under Attack – Colonel Bruce Bachus, commander of the Command and Control Support Agency, who is responsible for keeping the AOC operating, arrived at the Pentagon around the time the attack there occurred and yet he is unaware of the crisis taking place in the US when he gets to the AOC. In the AOC, Dick Mansfield, deputy director of the Command and Control Support Agency, says to him: “We’ve been hit! The CAT has been stood up!” But Bachus appears to be puzzled. Mansfield therefore asks him, “Sir, do you know what’s going on?” Bachus says no and that he had not been listening to the radio—like he usually does—while he drove to work. He says he heard a loud sound while he was in the Pentagon’s A-E Drive, and saw people shouting and running down the corridors, but he’d had no idea what was going on. Mansfield therefore has to quickly brief him on the catastrophic events of the past hour. [Rossow, 2003, pp. 9, 68]
Crisis Team Assesses How Many Army Staffers Are Missing – The “first big task” for the CAT, according to Vaughn, is “to get a count on how many people were missing on the Army staff.” Chiarelli instructs Vaughn to focus on this assignment. Vaughn then announces on the CAT floor that he wants each section “to start that process of figuring out who was missing and who was not.” “For a long time, our number one priority was locating and identifying and taking care of… our soldiers and civilians,” Vaughn will say. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/12/2002] Lieutenant Colonel Richard Kotch, who is working in the AOC this morning, will recall that those in the operations center also “assured continuity of operations after the impact [i.e. the attack on the Pentagon].” [St. Louis Jewish Light, 9/8/2011]
Intelligence Officers Give Inaccurate Reports of Hijackings – Meanwhile, after he arrives at the AOC, Chiarelli receives reports from his intelligence officers informing him, inaccurately, about additional hijacked aircraft. He is told there are “a minimum of four aircraft that were hijacked and a possibility, at one time, [of] as high as seven.” [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 99]
Operations Center Has Sophisticated Equipment – The CAT, according to Soldiers magazine, “consists of a dedicated ‘hot’ desk with classified and unclassified computers, and secure telephones for 24 separate Army staff sections.” [Soldiers, 9/2004] The AOC, where its members assemble, is equipped with state-of-the-art communications equipment and has television sets for monitoring news coverage. [Washington Post, 8/25/1995] A glassed-in balcony overlooks the main floor and four giant screens are on the wall above the computer workstations. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002; Lofgren, 2011, pp. 99-100]
Watch Team Regularly Communicates with Government Agencies – AOC personnel usually work around the clock to keep senior Army leaders aware of issues and events around the world. A watch team monitors the world constantly and is ready to sound the alarm if a crisis erupts somewhere. The watch team also “directs hundreds of communications daily to the FBI, the State Department, the White House command center, local law enforcement agencies, and others,” according to Soldiers magazine. The AOC is equipped with an “emergency action console,” which is a switchboard with a sophisticated communications system that allows watch team members to contact, at the touch of a button, the White House, the secretary of defense’s office, and Army commands around the world. [Washington Post, 8/25/1995; Soldiers, 9/2004] The CAT will become “a focal point for all Pentagon activities” in response to the terrorist attacks, according to Kotch. [St. Louis Jewish Light, 9/8/2011] It will continue working around the clock in the aftermath of the attacks. [US Army Center of Military History, 2/5/2002]
