AI Summary
5 min readOn the morning of September 11, 2001, Ambassador (Ret.) Matthew Klimow was the executive assistant to General Richard Myers, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Because the Chairman, General Hugh Shelton, was en route to Europe for a farewell tour, Myers was the acting chairman by law. Klimow was at his desk in the Pentagon's E-ring when he saw the North Tower smoking on a muted television. He initially wanted to believe it was an accident. Then the red switch — the secure global conferencing system connecting the White House, Pentagon, and major commands — began ringing. On the line was General Ralph Eberhardt from NORAD, who told Klimow to get General Myers on the phone immediately. Myers was on Capitol Hill for pre-confirmation courtesy calls. Klimow reached him, and Myers said he would be back in fifteen minutes.
The fog of war inside the National Military Command Center
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:30) **Introduction & Origin Story** - Host Jack Murphy introduces Ambassador (Ret.) Matthew Klimow, a former Army colonel and diplomat, who wrote *As the Pentagon Burned*.
- 2 (07:31) **Early Army Career & Leadership Challenges** - Klimow discusses the state of the post-Vietnam Army and his first assignments during the Cold War.
- 3 (12:54) **Strategic Career Management & Path to Washington** - Klimow explains how he deliberately managed his career to secure a policy position in Washington D.C.
- 4 (18:57) **A Lesson in Leadership: The NATO-Russia Brigade** - Klimow recounts a near-career-ending mistake and the recovery that followed, illustrating a key leadership lesson.
- 5 (31:50) **Return to the Pentagon as Vice Chairman's Exec** - Klimow details his return to Washington to work for General Dick Myers, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in the lead-up to 9/11.
- 6 (38:46) **The Morning of 9/11: Setup & Initial Confusion** - Klimow sets the stage for the attack, detailing the chain of command and the initial moments of the crisis.
- 7 (44:33) **The Pentagon is Hit & The Fog of War** - Klimow describes the moment the Pentagon was struck and the chaotic information environment inside the National Military Command Center (NMCC).
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
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"Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio"
00:00 – Start
00:57 – Growing Up in Upstate New York & His Father’s WWII Service
04:31 – West Point in the Turbulent 1970s
05:36 – Serving in Cold War Germany
10:00 – The Old Guard, Reagan’s Inauguration & Washington
12:20 – The Career Decision That Changed Everything
15:06 – Traveling With the Secretary of State & the Balkan Wars
16:55 – Madeleine Albright & the NATO-Russia Brigade Disaster
23:02 – Working With General Richard Myers on the Joint Staff
23:50 – Commanding at Fort Bragg & Returning to Washington
30:39 – Inside the Pentagon Before 9/11
33:32 – Watching the World Trade Center Burn From His Pentagon Office
35:00 – NORAD Calls the Pentagon’s Red Phone
36:27 – The White House Emergency Conference Begins
38:46 – “The Building Moved”: The Pentagon
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