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The main purposed of this case study is to critically analyse the actions done by

the Arlington County and other organizations at the United States in response to the September 11, 2001

terrorist attack that kills a thousand lives and caused the devastation and destruction of two important

infrastructures of the United States(World Trade Center and Pentagon). In this case, the focus will be the

discussion of the actions taken by Arlington County and other government agencies and organizations at

Pentagon.m

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 The terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 have shown dramatically that the anew terrorism is

different from the old (Lindstorm et al, 2002). It is global, it is decentralised, it uses new strategies and

tactics, and it is increasingly focused upon building the capacity for mass casualty and mass destruction

attacks, in an effort to destabilise entire societal systems. Attacks could entail the use of any imaginable

weapon: conventional, chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological and informational done individually or in

combination. Consequently, it threatens all sectors and infrastructures of society. Increasingly, terrorists

are loosely organised in networked structures.m

The United States of America is known to be the most powerful country in terms of economy and

military structures. However, the USA has been challenged by the 9/11 terrorism attack. On September

11, 2001, people all over the world were shocked with the news airing on their televisions. The news was

about the three incidents of bombing in the United States using commercial airlines which was hijacked

by terrorists (19 men connected with Al-Qaeda). These incidents happened at

the World Trade Center in Manhattan, NY, Pentagon at the Arlington County, VA and a rural field near the

Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It is said that this attack is considered as the most lethal and catastrophic

incident ever happened in the USA. The incident has cost the lives of 2,986 victims for the three

incidents, 189 from the Pentagon, 184 innocent victims and 5 hijackers.m

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The attack has alarmed all organizations in the USA, specifically, those who are responsible in

clearing operations like the Arlington County, some jurisdictions and government organizations and
departments. Since, Arlington County is considered to hold the greater responsibility in this situation; this

case study will provide the significant actions done by Arlington County, along with other organizations

and the durations of such actions.m

At 9:38 AM after the incident at the Manhattan, another airline has exploded this time within the

territorial boundary of Arlington County. The incident was scene by Captain Steve McCoy and the crew of
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ACFD Engine 101; the two estimated that the explosion happened in the vicinity of 14 Street Bridge or

in Crystal City. The first thing that Captain McCoy has done was to immediately call the Arlington County

Emergency Communications Center (ECC). The captain reported that an airplane crash within the

vicinity of the above mentioned locations. In addition, he noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation

should also be informed regarding the incident at theArlington County. Upon hearing the radioed

message, fire and rescue units all overArlington County began to respond, self-dispatching from their

specific locations and stations.m

However, at that exact moment of explosions, only one fire crew, Foam, 161 of the Fort Myer Fire

Department, knew the precise location of the incident. Capt. Gilroy and his team were already on the

station at the Pentagon; however, Foam 161 had been caught on fire while two of the fire-fighters (Mark

Skipper and Alan Wallace) received burns and lacerations. However, the two still managed to help the

victims climbed out of the Pentagon's first floor windows. Capt. Gilroy reported the exact location of the

incident at the Fort Myer Fire Department.m

With this immediate report, help was already dispatched from different directions heading towards

Pentagon. ACFD, Truck 105 was the first unit to reach the scene and followed shortly by fire and medical

units from different stations at theArlington County. During this time, at the FBI Washington Field Office,

SAC Arthur Eberhart has alarmed the WFO Command Center and members of the WFO National Capital

Response Squad were paged and ordered to report immediately to headquarters. In this instance, Mr.

Larry Circutti of the Military District of Washington at the Pentagon heard the news of the explosion.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Chris Comb of the NCRS Fire Service Liaison also heard the news that the

incident was in Pentagon and he proceeded directly to the area.m

On the other hand, at Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Fire Department,

Captain Michael Defina was investigating a scenario at Terminal B when he had known about the

incident. He reported the incident at the Fire Communications and identified Pentagon to be the crash
site, after which, MWAA called the Arlington ECC and was instructed to respond to the

Pentagon. Arlington ECC responded with important resources such as rescue engine, 2 foam units, mini-

pumper, two mass casualty units and a command vehicle. And since MWAA has the permission to

respond automatically to an airplane crash within 5 miles of the airport, MWAA immediately self-

dispatched two heavy rescue units to the Pentagon.m

Battalion Chief Bob Cornwell assumed to take initial Incident Command responsibilities when he

arrived after ACFD's Training Officer captain Chuck Gibbs at 9:43 a.m. Such obligations were

immediately assumed by Assistant Fire Chief for Operations James Schwartz, and assigned Cornwell to

lead fire suppression efforts inside the Pentagon building while Capt. Gibbs, commanded the River

Division. Special Agent Combs arrived just after Chief Schwartz arrived. The partnership of SA Combs

and Chief Schwartz, served as FBU agency representative to the Incident Commander. ACFD Captain

Edward Blunt who arrives within 5 minutes at the Pentagon assumed the EMS contacting immediately

ECC and requests separateEMS operational channel which was provided immediately. In addition, Capt.

Blunt also asked for 20 medic units, 2 buses, and a command vehicle for EMS response support. Capt.

Blunt positioned the unit to the field adjacent to Washington Boulevardas the treatment area and

instructed Arlington County Police Department patrol units to clear Washington Boulevard in order to

make the north and south access for emergency response traffic.m

Capt. Alan Dorn was assigned as Triage Officer and together with Capt. Blunt they began working

with military medical personnel who voluntarily helped set-up the triage area. In the beginning, medical

units positioned itself in the Pentagon South Parking Lot, near Route 110, until it was instructed to go the

to EMS sector on Route 27.m

Around 9:50 a.m. there are already six ACFD EMS units arrived at the crash site (M-102, M-104,

M-105, M-106, M-109, and M-110). M-101, Engine 103, and an ACFD Reserve Medic Unit also joined the

team. Further, two additional ACFD Reserve Medic Units (RM-111 and RM-112) arrived next and were

directed to provide EMSsupport at the Pentagon's Center Courtyard. At 9:50 a.m., the ECC told Captain

Blunt that hospital in Arlington County such as Virginia Hospital Center - Arlington, InovaFairfax Hospital,

and Washington Hospital Center are already prepared to accept as many victims as needed. Within 2

minutes after the explosion, the first personnel of ACFD already arrived at the Pentagon and immediately

provide first aids to the victims. The ACFD has been able to establish its command presence within 4
minutes after the attack. And on the other hand, MWAA fire and medical units were already on the site as

well as the first delegation of the FBI's NCRS had arrived in 5 minutes after the impact. This means that

initial response of the Arlington County authorities and other organizations has been established in a

short period of time.m

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It is noted that the 9/11 bombing of the Pentagon is a very destructive and catastrophic incident.

In this manner, just after the incident at the Pentagon, different fire department units has been dispatched

from the stations and other government agencies and organizations immediately provide significant

actions for these operation. As mentioned in the After-Action Report of the Arlington County, the first one

who arrived at the crash site is Battalion Chief Cornwell, of the ACFD. Chief Cornwell assumed command

of the Pentagon site. With a destructive incident like this, the initial Incident Commander and the

subsequent Incident commander have faced different challenges.m

One of the challenges that the IC might encounter is in terms of the immediate resources

needed. It is essential that when faced in an incident wherein the lives of people are in danger, the

physical resources for rescue operations and medical assistance must be given immediately. In addition,

another challenged faced by the Incident Commander is in terms of human resources. In this manner,

the commander must see to it if there would be enough personnel to do all the necessary actions to

secure that the areas is already clear and that all the victims were rescued. Lastly, the major challenged

faced by the Incident Commander is in line with his leadership ability. It can be said that incident like this

puts pressure on the leaders or officers in charge. Without proper leadership ability and management of

all the resources may it be physical or human resources, all the essential things to be done might not be

achieved within the operation. Hence, the incident commander may it be the initial or the subsequent IC

must have a firm and powerful disposition so as to handle things like the 9/11 Pentagon attack.m

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In the operation conducted by the authorities of Arlington County, there are different critical factors

that can be cited which affect the operation as a whole. One of the critical factors is the communication.

Communication problems arise due to incompatible and unsuited radios. This was given emphasis early
in the incident response by pairing mutual aid responding resources with ACFD personnel who used

ACFD radios.m

Immediate Resources is other critical factors that must be considered that affect the

operations. Resources include both physical and human resources, who will be responsible for the

clearing, rescue operation, medical operations that must be done at the site. Safety issues are also one of

the critical factors that may affect the success or even the failure of the operations. In this manner, it is

important that before doing any other actions, the command units must ensure that it is safe to start the

operations (ICDRM, 2002). Lastly, effective inter-organization coordination and cooperation was the vital

factor in the successful response on the 9/11 Pentagon attack. The coordination was established upon (1)

effective leadership ability of the initial commanders and other involved authorities on scene. (2)

Enthusiasm and eagerness of key individuals to make extra effort to communicate with other government

agencies and organizations and (3) the history of a joint pre-planning and coordination if ever such

incident may happen.m

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It can be said that the actions taken by ACFD and other agencies is remarkably successful

because of the initiatives of the authorities and the extraordinary leadership ability of the responsible

individual to make the whole operation worked effectively. It can be said that this success can also be

attributed to the good decision-making skills of the leaders. It can be noted that final authority is vested in

the Incident Commander. However, all major decision were done and scrutinized with all the members of

United Command at the Pentagon. In addition, the execution of the decisions also depends on the

discussions made by the UC. Herein, the authorities or the Incident Commanders may be best perceived

as management. ACFD is not authorized to command FBI and other agencies, but because of the

efficient management, it has been able to secure a necessary cooperation among these agencies.m

In the case of the IC who took responsibilities of the Pentagon attack operations, the decision

making process imposed give value on the notion of "who was speaking for whom". In this manner, they

acknowledge even the personnel with lowest positions as a representative of the organization which they

belong. Hence, their decisions and say regarding the planning of the response strategy is highly
recognized. In this manner, all the people involved from the top management (IC) to the lowest staff

(personnel) within the operations are given equal recognition so as to have a successful operation.m

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The agencies involved in this operation include Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD)

Arlington County Emergency Communications Center (ECC), Fort Myer Fire Department, Federal Bureau

of Investigation (FBI), National Capital Respond Squad (NCRS) Fire Service, Metropolitan Washington

Airports Authority Fire Department,Fire Communications and the three

hospitals Virginia Hospital Center -Arlington, Inova Fairfax Hospital,

and Washington Hospital Center. These agencies are interconnected with each other in line with the

rescue, medical and fire operations at the Pentagon. These agencies coordinate with each other in order

to make the operation more successful. For example, the personnel (Captain McCoy) of ACFD who has

seen the crash immediately contacted the ECC to report the incident, in which the latter quickly respond

by coordinating with the fire stations all over Arlington in addition, he also told the center to report the

incident to the FBI. On the other hand, since the personnel (Capt. Gilroy) of Fort Myer Fire Department is

already in the crash site when the incident happen, he reported the exact location to his Department and

through this immediate actions and responds had been dispatched to Pentagon. These agencies have

been able to have flow of information regarding the incident. In addition, these agencies are the ones that

helped in providing resources for the operation. For example, the ECC provides rescue engine, foam

units, etc. according to the instruction of MWAA who had also seen the explosion. In addition, these

agencies take their positions around the crash site to do their specific assignment. For example, ACFD

will be the one responsible for the fire, and FBI representatives for the investigation purposes and the

other units of ECC and EMC will be responsible for the medical operation.m

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The operation done by these agencies has been one of the most extraordinary operations

considered since the operation was successful in spite of the intense pressure among each personnel. In

terms of command, it can be said that individual authorities mentioned above has been able to show their

leadership ability to make other people work and take the responsibilities in this kind of situations. The
Command Units are able to effectively execute all their plans for ensuring that the operation will meet its

primary goal, which is ensuring and safety and security of individuals within the community.m

In terms of control, it can be said that the operations has been smooth because of the

coordination and cooperation of other units. The leaders, agency representatives, fire-fighters, medical

personnel and other volunteers are able to show respect for the decision of the commanders so as to

immediately and effectively provide the necessary actions during such incident. In terms of

communication, the only problem that can be raised is that unsuited radios used by medical personnel

and ACFD personnel. However, in terms of information flows, it can be noted that the operation teams at

Pentagon has been able to communicate effectively, specifically during the first minute of the incident,

wherein, the effective communication has been the key to know the exact location of the incident.m

Upon knowing that there is need for a Unified Command because of the involvement of management

from the reactive phase to more proactive situations, the Incident Commander had been able to establish

a Unified Command. The Unified Command was exercise by Law Enforcement (FBI), Fire (ACFD),

Military (DoD) and the search and rescue team (US&R). This Unified Command functions as the overall

structure the jointly bring the IC of all major organization which is involved in the operations to effectively

coordinate and efficiently respond while at the same time carrying out its own jurisdictional

responsibilities.m

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It can be said that the task and responsibilities of the Incident Commander and other personnel in

charged in a major catastrophe such as the 9/11 Pentagon attack is very sensitive and complex.

However, it can be noted that all the individuals involved in the clearing operation of the said incident has

been able to their job effectively and efficiently. After the operation, it can be concluded that the Unified

Command established for Pentagon operation has done a fantastic performance to show its strength as a

safe and security personnel even in times like this. Hence, it can be concluded also that the response

system executed for this kind of disasters was effective for managing the cost of the attack of terrorists. m

There are challenges encountered but because of the leadership ability of the Incident

Commander and other involved authorities, further problems are avoided. In addition, it can also be noted
that because of the coordination and cooperation of each agencies, the operation has been successful in

achieving its objective.m

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The above analysis shows that leadership ability and coordination and willingness have been the

key factors in having successful operations at Pentagon. With the characteristics of the Incident

Commander of the Unified Command structured at Pentagon, I can say that as a Chief Commander of my

own department, I will adapt this kind of ability so as to make all the performance of my own department

become successful and effective for the benefit of all. In addition, in managing my department, I make it

sure that before making any decisions, I will asks for the opinions and suggestions of my subordinates in

order to have a better result.m

In addition, it is difficult to coordinate with an individual whom you don't know personally, hence,

another important lesson that I can use during this kind of situation is the willingness to build trust on

other people, believing in their capabilities and cooperating with their plans to avoid more problems and

complications which his not helpful for the operation as a whole.m

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