2010 January 16 Meeting

Please join us for the Chapter meeting on January 16, 2010 where our speaker will be Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Tom Daniel.

The Day the Myth Died- 9/11 at the Pentagon

September 11, 2001 is a day that Americans will never forget.  However, possibly due to the comparative scale of the New York event, or the inherent secrecy surrounding Pentagon operations, the image in most of our minds is that of the World Trade Center as it tumbles to the ground.  For that reason, few know much about what went on that day at the Pentagon nor the potential devastating impact, had the terrorist actions gone as planned.

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Tom Daniel, the Department of Defense Director of Emergency Plans and Policy on 9/11, was on the scene that day, responsible for advising Secretary Rumsfeld on his contingency options and for ensuring the continuity of National Security Operations.  His presentation will answer these questions and why this was “The Day the Myth Died.”

This presentation has been given around the country to diverse groups including government, business and academia; from small audiences to groups greater than 2000.  

BIO - THOMAS H. DANIEL

Tom Daniel completed 40 years of public service.  He retired from the U.S. Army as a Lieutenant Colonel after 27 years, having progressed through the enlisted ranks to Staff Sergeant and selection to full Colonel. 

During his military career he saw combat in Vietnam as an infantry platoon leader and company executive officer. He was assigned three times to the elite 82nd Airborne Division, once as commander of the 375-man parachute rigger unit.

Among a number of classified special operations, Tom helped to plan the attempt to rescue American POWs from North Vietnam, participated in the evacuations of Saigon, Vietnam and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and coordinated final preparation for the attempted rescue of American hostages in Iran.

After retirement from the military, Tom served for 13 years on the staff of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon, initially negotiating international agreements on strategic military technologies. 

Later, as the Director for Defense Emergency Plans and Policy, he implemented presidential directives on the continuity of national security operations. This included management of the alternate Pentagon located inside a Pennsylvania mountain, as well as the command and control aircraft assigned to the National Command Authority.  During the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon, he remained after the building was evacuated to advise Secretary Rumsfeld on his contingency options, while simultaneously manning the alternate Pentagon. Following the attack, he directed a special task force to expand and upgrade DOD’s emergency programs and infrastructure.

After leaving government service in 2003, he became the first Executive Director of the congressionally mandated, Department of Homeland Security funded, Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response at New York University, a national institution formed to respond to the threats of global terrorism.  While leading this program, he developed, inter alia, a concept for responding to an emergency with a million or more casualties.

Tom lives in Sandy Springs with his faithful companion, Lynn, where he is writing a biography of Colonel Arthur D. “Bull” Simons, the leader of the Vietnam POW rescue operation, under whom he served in the XVIII Airborne Corps during the operation.