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]