NMCC DIRECTOR STAYED IN PRE-SCHEDULED MEETING
Brigadier General Montague Winfield should have been on duty as the deputy director for operations (DDO) in the NMCC throughout the 9/11 attacks, in command of the operations team there. [22] The DDO's responsibilities in a crisis include establishing and moderating an appropriate conference call between military commanders and other relevant agencies, and generating a military response. [23] But, curiously, the previous afternoon, Winfield asked his colleague, Charles Leidig, to take over from him as DDO for a portion of his duty on the morning of September 11, and Leidig agreed to do so.
Leidig--whose usual job was as the deputy for Command Center operations, responsible for the maintenance, operation, and training of the NMCC's watch teams--had joined the operations directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in July 2001, and only qualified to stand in as the DDO in the NMCC about a month before 9/11. He therefore lacked Winfield's experience that would surely have been invaluable when organizing a response to the attacks on the U.S. [24]
The reason Winfield wanted Leidig to take his place as DDO on September 11 appears to have been because he was scheduled to attend a meeting that morning. This was a "closed-door personnel meeting convened by the Air Force to discuss the rating of Air Force officers," according to one 9/11 Commission memorandum. [25] Another Commission memorandum described it as a "session for general officers who rated Air Force officers." Leidig therefore replaced Winfield as DDO at 8:30 a.m. on September 11, 16 minutes before the first plane hit the WTC. [26]
One would reasonably expect someone to have fetched Winfield from his meeting when the second plane hit the WTC and officers in the NMCC "knew immediately that it was a terrorist attack," if not before. [27] And yet that did not happen. Winfield only returned to his post more than an hour later, after Flight 93 apparently crashed in Pennsylvania and the 9/11 attacks had ended.
EMERGENCY CONFERENCE ONLY BEGAN AT 9:29 A.M.
Another area of concern is the serious problems experienced by NMCC personnel in convening and running an emergency teleconference to deal with the terrorist attacks. The NMCC had specific procedures in place to manage a crisis. A 9/11 Commission memorandum described, "As a particular event unfolds, the first action is to convene a significant event conference to gather and disseminate information from government entities according to established checklists." [32] However, Charles Chambers recalled that the NMCC's significant event conference in response to the 9/11 attacks "was taking much longer than expected to bring up." [33] Commander Patrick Gardner, the assistant DDO, told the 9/11 Commission that the NMCC was "struggling to build the conference," which "didn't get off as quickly as hoped," and complained of his "frustration that it wasn't brought up more quickly." [34] The significant event conference only began at 9:29 a.m., 26 minutes after Flight 175 hit the WTC. [35]
At least two factors that contributed to this alarming delay in establishing the conference have been identified: disruption resulting from some NMCC officers having to participate in another conference call that was reportedly of no use in aiding the emergency response to the attacks, and problems connecting some agencies--particularly the FAA--to the NMCC's conference.
UNHELPFUL CIA CONFERENCE DELAYED NMCC RESPONSE
A National Operations and Intelligence Watch Officer Network (NOIWON) conference call was convened by the CIA, reportedly at sometime between 9:16 a.m. and 9:25 a.m. on September 11, to allow government agencies in the Washington area to quickly share information regarding the ongoing crisis. [36] But this call appears to have hindered, rather than helped, emergency response efforts. According to a 9/11 Commission memorandum, while the NMCC was preparing for the significant event conference, the "NOIWON call intervened. The NMCC abandoned its attempt to convene a [significant event conference] so its watch officers could participate in the NOIWON conference." [37]
What is more, the disruption was apparently for nothing. An intelligence officer working at FAA headquarters that morning said that he "does not remember any useful or significant information coming as a result of the NOIWON call." [38] And Charles Leidig told the 9/11 Commission that he "recalled no situational awareness that came from the NOIWON call." [39]
* Brigadier General Montague Winfield left his position as the deputy director for operations in the NMCC at 8:30 a.m. and only resumed his duties after the attacks ended, apparently around 10:30 a.m.
* Donald Rumsfeld, who as secretary of defense had a vital role to play in defending his country against the terrorist attacks, was at the Pentagon that morning, and yet he too only reached the NMCC after the attacks ended. Rumsfeld learned of the first attack in New York during a breakfast meeting he was holding for several members of Congress. He then returned to his office for his daily CIA intelligence briefing. [53]
* General Richard Myers, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was on Capitol Hill that morning and, despite seeing the coverage of the first crash in New York on television shortly before 9:00 a.m., continued into his scheduled meeting with Senator Max Cleland. [60] Myers learned of the second attack on the WTC either while he was with Cleland or just after he left the meeting (accounts conflict on this matter). [61] ... he arrived at the NMCC at around 10:00 a.m. or 10:10 a.m. [63] But he further delayed joining the air threat conference by initially leaving the NMCC and heading out to the secretary of defense's office suite, in search of Donald Rumsfeld. Only after an aide there told him that Rumsfeld had gone outside did Myers return to the NMCC. [64]
[22] "Memorandum for the Record: Orientation and Tour of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC)."
[23] Charles Chambers, "Notes on 9/11, Maj. C. Chambers, NMCC, Made Within the Week of 9/11"; "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Captain Charles Joseph Leidig, USN, Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy"; National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: Twelfth Public Hearing.
[24] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Captain Charles Joseph Leidig, USN, Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy"; "Statement of Capt. Charles J. Leidig, Jr., Commandant of Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy, Before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States." 9/11 Commission, June 17, 2004.
[25] "Memorandum for the Record: Orientation and Tour of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC)."
[26] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Captain Charles Joseph Leidig, USN, Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy"; "Statement of Capt. Charles J. Leidig, Jr., Commandant of Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy, Before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States."
[27] Jim Garamone, "9/11: Keeping the Heart of the Pentagon Beating."
[28] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Captain Charles Joseph Leidig, USN, Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy."
[29] National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: Twelfth Public Hearing.
[30] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Captain Charles Joseph Leidig, USN, Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy."
[31] Debbie Sheehan, "Force Protection Plan a 'Timely Alert.'" Monmouth Message, September 21, 2001; Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, A Concise History of the Communications-Electronics Command and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Fort Monmouth, NJ: Fort Monmouth, 2003, p. 71.
[32] "Memorandum for the Record: Orientation and Tour of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC)."
[33] Charles Chambers, "Notes on 9/11, Maj. C. Chambers, NMCC, Made Within the Week of 9/11."
[34] Commander Patrick Gardner, 9/11 Commission Interview Part I, Handwritten Notes; Commander Patrick Gardner, 9/11 Commission Interview Take 2, Handwritten Notes. 9/11 Commission, May 12, 2004.
[35] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 37.
[36] David A. Radi, "Intelligence Inside the White House: The Influence of Executive Style and Technology." Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Program on Information Resources Policy, March 1997, p. 12; "Chronology of Events on 9/11/01." Federal Aviation Administration, September 11, 2001; "ACI Watch Log." Federal Aviation Administration, September 11, 2001; Bob Brewin, "The Consumer's Guide to Intel Nets." Government Executive, June 1, 2009.
[37] "Memorandum for the Record: Orientation and Tour of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC)."
[38] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Darrel Smith." 9/11 Commission, July 13, 2004.
[39] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Captain Charles Joseph Leidig, USN, Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy."
[40] Charles Chambers, "Notes on 9/11, Maj. C. Chambers, NMCC, Made Within the Week of 9/11."
[41] Commander Patrick Gardner, 9/11 Commission Interview Take 2, Handwritten Notes.
[42] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 37.
[43] Charles Chambers, "Notes on 9/11, Maj. C. Chambers, NMCC, Made Within the Week of 9/11."
[44] Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CJCSI 3610.01A.
[45] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 37.
[46] National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: Twelfth Public Hearing.
[47] Charles Chambers, "Notes on 9/11, Maj. C. Chambers, NMCC, Made Within the Week of 9/11."
[48] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 37.
[49] Charles Chambers, "Notes on 9/11, Maj. C. Chambers, NMCC, Made Within the Week of 9/11"; "Memorandum for the Record: Orientation and Tour of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC)."
[50] "Memorandum for the Record: Orientation and Tour of the National Military Command Center (NMCC) and National Military Joint Intelligence Center (NMJIC)."
[51] National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States: Twelfth Public Hearing.
[52] Rayford Brooks, 9/11 Commission Interview, Handwritten Notes. 9/11 Commission, April 15, 2004; 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 37, 463.
[53] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 37; Steve Vogel, The Pentagon, p. 428.
[54] Assistant Secretary Clarke Interview With WBZ Boston. WBZ Boston, September 15, 2001; Torie Clarke, Lipstick on a Pig: Winning in the No-Spin Era by Someone Who Knows the Game. New York: Free Press, 2006, pp. 218-219.
[55] Don Van Natta and Lizette Alvarez, "A Hijacked Boeing 757 Slams Into the Pentagon, Halting the Government." New York Times, September 12, 2001; Alfred Goldberg et al., Pentagon 9/11. Washington, DC: Defense Department, Office of the Secretary, Historical Office, 2007, pp. 130-131.
[56] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 38.
[57] Robert J. Darling, 24 Hours Inside the President's Bunker: 9/11/01 The White House. Bloomington, IN: iUniverse, 2010, pp. 108-109.
[58] Draft: The Air Traffic Organization's Response to the September 11th Terrorist Attack: ATC System Assessment, Shutdown, and Restoration. Federal Aviation Administration, March 21, 2002, p. G-1; Hugh Shelton, Ronald Levinson, and Malcolm McConnell, Without Hesitation: The Odyssey of an American Warrior. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2010, pp. 430-432.
[59] Richard B. Myers and Malcolm McConnell, Eyes on the Horizon, p. 159.
[60] Richard Myers, Interview by Jim Miklaszewski. NBC News, September 11, 2002; "History Makers Series: General Richard B. Myers, U.S. Air Force (Retired), Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff." Council on Foreign Relations, June 29, 2006.
[61] Interview, General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, With Petty Officer Quinn Lyton, USN. Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, October 17, 2001; Richard Myers, Interview by Jim Miklaszewski; Richard B. Myers and Malcolm McConnell, Eyes on the Horizon, p. 8.
[62] Interview, General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, With Petty Officer Quinn Lyton, USN; Richard Myers, Interview by Jim Miklaszewski; "Statement of General Richard Myers, USAF, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, Before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States." 9/11 Commission, June 17, 2004; "History Makers Series: General Richard B. Myers, U.S. Air Force (Retired), Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
[63] "Memorandum for the Record: Interview With Richard Myers, Affiliated With NORAD." 9/11 Commission, February 17, 2004.
[64] Richard B. Myers and Malcolm McConnell, Eyes on the Horizon, pp. 152-153.