The September 11th attack
Attacks expose need for warning system

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Gov. Ben Cayetano first learned of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks through his press secretary, who had been alerted by a media inquiry. The state's National Guard found out from a television news broadcast. Reporters rushed to Honolulu International Airport hours before troops arrived.

Gov. Cayetano learned about the attacks more than an hour after the first plane crashed. Advertiser library photo • Sept. 22, 2001

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Warning System, a communications network first established to warn of impending nuclear attack during the Cold War era, was never activated on Sept. 11. Officials at FEMA's Washington headquarters could not immediately say why, or whether the issue was being addressed.

But Hawai'i Civil Defense vice director Ed Teixeira said he was informed that the system did not include an event code for a series of terrorist attacks. Such codes inform state officials of the nature of an attack or natural disaster and designate the appropriate response, he said.

"Most of the official agencies I've been in contact with were informed by someone on the Mainland who was their counterpart, or by friends or relatives, who were aware of the situation through media," Teixeira said. "The bottom line is, the National Warning System was not activated."

Before Sept. 11, the nation simply never fully recognized the potential for a coordinated series of attacks from within, some security analysts say.

The U.S. military is positioned to face outward and search for approaching threats. And civilian authorities, such as FEMA, say they are set up mainly to render aid after a disaster has occurred.

"For any kind of national emergency or regional emergency, there needs to be some kind of centralized notification system to alert local authorities and federal authorities that something has happened or is happening," said Army Col. (Ret.) Daniel Smith, chief of research at the Center for Defense Information in Washington.

"There needs to be some kind of hot line, if you will, at least to all the state houses from the federal government for these kinds of emergencies," said Smith, a West Point graduate and former intelligence officer.

Four in the morning

The sun wasn't up yet in Hawai'i when two hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the world's media capital. Cayetano's press secretary, Kim Murakawa, called him shortly after 4 a.m., after a Hawai'i television station woke her to ask if the governor was available to discuss the situation.

That was more than an hour after the first attack, and at almost the same time the fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

"I turned on my television right away, waiting for the call from my National Guard guys and Civil Defense. It never came" during those tense first minutes, Cayetano said.

Many other U.S. public officials were also alerted by media, directly or through others. In Arizona, for instance, Gov. Jane Hull was first told of the attacks by her chief of staff, who saw the news on television, said Hull's press secretary, Francie Noyes.

Arizona is three hours ahead of Hawai'i, so more people were awake by then, and Hull's first call came more than a half hour before Cayetano's.

California Gov. Gray Davis found out before most of his staff, and almost an hour before Cayetano.

"He was watching TV at about 6:10 in the morning" (3:10 a.m. in Hawai'i) at his residence, Davis' press secretary Steve Maviglio said. "A staff member called him about five minutes later to notify him, but by then he already knew."

Many federal and local officials in Washington also learned of the attacks through media. Indeed, some Pentagon staffers said they watched the televised disaster unfold in New York even as the third hijacked plane hit their own building.

Soon after he was awakened, Cayetano received a call from his chief of staff, Sam Callejo, who had been alerted by the director of the state Department of Transportation, Brian Minaai. Within minutes, Callejo was contacted by Teixeira, whose staff had been informed by an airport official.

From the bottom up

About 5 a.m., Cayetano spoke with Gen. Mert Agena, who was in charge of the National Guard that day, and requested that troops be dispatched to the airport to provide extra security.

The Guard's Quick Reaction Force was activated at 5:15 a.m.; four of the Guard's F-15 fighter planes, which are under federal military control, were scrambled at 7:07 a.m. to intercept any planes that strayed off course; and troops were on the ground at the airport by 9 a.m.

But planes began landing at the airport more than an hour before the fighters were scrambled, and long before the troops arrived. Though the extent of the attacks was still unknown, all the hijacked planes had long since crashed.

Still, Hawai'i's system worked as it was designed to: the Guard responded to a request for aid from local authorities, through established procedures.

"The system has always been from the lowest level up, not the top down," said National Guard Maj. Charles Anthony. "We can't do things unless we do it through the proper channels and let the system work."

Guard troops first learned of the attacks through television shortly after 3 a.m. and quickly relayed information through the chain of command, he said.

"Our leadership was aware within minutes," Anthony said. "The Guard notified the Guard, actually. We had people who happened to be watching television."

Smith, from the Center for Defense Information, said it's not surprising that commercial media, with its many branches and far-reaching capabilities, played such a key role in relaying information about the attacks.

"But it should not become the system on which people, and particularly government agencies, rely during an emergency," he said. "It's a complement, but it should not be the main one."

The task of President Bush's new Office of Homeland Security will be to ensure the nation's resources can be mobilized quickly and effectively in the event of further attacks. Administration officials said that could include oversight of a national notification system.

"The whole purpose of the office is to put in place a coordinated, integrated, comprehensive strategy to combat domestic terrorism," said White House spokesman Ken Lisaius.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who Bush appointed last week to head the Cabinet-level office, has begun meeting with White House officials to discuss its staffing, structure and budget, and he is expected to begin his new position Oct. 8, Lisaius said.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.