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| Resources Deployed to World Trade Center May 2002 "What can we do?" This question crossed the minds of millions of Americans as the horrific images of September’s terrorist attacks flickered on their television screens. Rich Byrne, like millions of others, asked himself the question of the moment…but then Byrne came up with an idea. "We are in the business of serving the country, and this was a way that we were able to bring our mission to bear." While monitoring television coverage of the attack in New York and its aftermath, Rich Byrne, the executive director of MITRE’s Center for Air Force Command and Control Systems in Bedford, Mass., heard the urgent call for search and rescue workers at the site where the World Trade Center (WTC) towers once stood. At one point, someone mentioned the possibility of survivors trapped in the rubble who may have had cellular telephones. With the right technology, the cell phones might be found, and with them, possibly, survivors of the attack. So, at 3:44 p.m. on the day following the attacks, Byrne sent out an e-mail to a core group of MITRE experts in the field of cellular technology. He asked for "low hanging fruit"—technology that could be deployed rapidly to the site to make an impact in the most urgent areas of need. "Search and rescue for victims seemed to be the most important thing at that point," Byrne said. "So I made a list of people and asked about their capacity to help and to deploy rapidly." What followed was a remarkable mobilization of talent that quickly reached beyond MITRE to include government agencies and representatives of private industry, working together to render whatever assistance they could at Ground Zero. "This really reflects our mission, the reason MITRE exists," said Byrne. "We are in the business of serving the country." Added Jason Providakes, one of approximately 20 staff that worked at Ground Zero, "Putting MITRE’s experts at the tip of the spear in this disaster was one of the best examples of how we carry out our mission."
Gathering Resources There were two pressing tasks for the MITRE team: getting authorization to go to Ground Zero and finding the equipment to take with them that would give the best chance of aiding the search and rescue effort. After setting up a command post in Bedford, MITRE’s officers began calling key customer contacts, as well as the New Jersey State Police and New York’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM), to obtain authorization to enter the WTC site. While that was taking place, others across the corporation began searching for the right combination of equipment to take to Ground Zero. Working quickly before stores closed, Jerry Michael, the site leader of the MITRE Picatinny, N.J., site along with Yosry Barsoum of MITRE-NJ identified and secured equipment that might be of use. Kim Rothfuchs and Bob Guardino came back to work in Bedford to prepare the proper purchase order authorization numbers. Meanwhile, several MITRE employees turned parking lots into impromptu laboratories, conducting experiments with any equipment they hoped might help. "It was mostly equipment geared to directionally locating radios," said David Kaplan, a member of the first MITRE team to arrive at Ground Zero. "Some was purchased, some was borrowed, some was MITRE equipment from prior projects, and other equipment was brought in from our sponsors. We hoped it would be of great help, but none of us had ever used it in such an environment." Searching the Ruins Less than 15 hours after Byrne sent out his initial e-mail, a caravan carrying five MITRE Bedford employees and vans full of equipment arrived at MITRE-NJ. There, the team met up with other MITRE employees, who had unique relationships within New York’s OEM, and members of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronic Command (CECOM), who had similar cellular expertise. About two hours later, the MITRE-CECOM team, escorted by New Jersey State police officers, set off for New York City. For the next 48 hours, the team worked side by side with police, firefighters, and emergency personnel to try to locate survivors. However, conditions proved difficult. In a desperate attempt to find survivors, first responders on the scene were working around the clock in the debris pile using a variety of radio frequencies to communicate with one another. Moreover, large amounts of metal sheets in the debris were interfering with radio signals. "In addition, there was a high degree of stress related to the hazards of the environment," said James Providakes of MITRE-NJ, who became the on-site leader of the Ground Zero team. "There were concerns that additional buildings would come down. The environment made it difficult for the team to establish itself for one period of time in the same location." Sadly, despite everyone’s best efforts, the emphasis at Ground Zero would soon shift from rescue to recovery—and, as the police, firefighters, and emergency workers shifted gears, so did MITRE.
Coordinating on the Ground The recovery effort had the potential for real danger. Many hazardous materials, such as the Freon™ tanks for the air conditioning units, were stored in the six underground levels of the WTC. If the fires burning underneath the rubble reached these substances, larger fires or toxic emissions might result. Clearing away the rubble was also hazardous because moving debris might free oxygen to float into the air, mixing with combustible dust and vapors and creating a mini-volcanic effect. Thus, pinpointing the sources of the danger became vital to ensuring the safety of the rescue personnel. "Initially, we had a great sense of optimism that we were going to save the day," said Steve Hansen, chief architect in the Geospatial, Visualization, and Fusion Technologies Department. "After about five or six days, everybody realized that nobody was coming out alive. Then it came down to being logical and making sure we didn’t put anyone in harm’s way." That scenario led to one of MITRE’s most important contributions to the recovery effort—the deployment of mapping support. Hansen led a team from Bedford to Ground Zero to set up a Rapid Mapping Information Analysis Cell (RMIAC). The RMIAC’s mission was to create a clearinghouse for establishing Essential Elements of Information (EEIs) and providing a collection management process for gathering information and using it to solve problems. MITRE called on many clients and businesses to bring technology to the scene. MITRE-NJ assisted the New York City Fire Department and the Army CECOM/ RDEC Night Vision personnel in using infrared imaging technology to help firefighters identify and address any hot spots in the debris.MITRE also worked with the Director’s Office CECOM and CECOM’s Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate to collect data from flights over the WTC in planes equipped with multiple sensors. The airborne sensors provided high resolution, infrared, and hyperspectral images and data of Ground Zero. MITRE’s Exploitation Systems Laboratory helped analyze the data to provide temperature estimates of the fires still burning under the towers, and to map and track the debris, although much of the debris had become too pulverized to identify. And MITRE brought several satellite communication (SATCOM) telephones to New York’s OEM to support urgent calls when normal phone lines were out of order or overloaded, which happened often at Ground Zero. The technology helped identify problems and hazardous areas in and around the site—especially in the five or six stories underground. Using data from sensor flights, MITRE team members pinpointed a fire spreading toward the WTC’s main Freon tank. Had the fire reached the tank, it would have caused the Freon to boil, resulting in toxic fumes. "It was a matter of going in, finding the key decision makers, and getting them the tools and resources," said Hansen. "The environment was very dynamic—it changed from hour to hour." MITRE’s experience in command and control also proved valuable to the recovery effort. In an effort to help coordinate the work at Ground Zero, MITRE set up a coordination cell at the makeshift headquarters of New York’s OEM at Pier 92. There, MITRE team members provided technical advice to New York’s OEM, police, and firefighters, and a host of other state and federal officials, as they continued searching through the WTC rubble. Hansen said the military backgrounds of many MITRE team members—gained either through serving in the armed forces or working on projects for military clients— helped the team cope with the unprecedented nature of the emergency. "These were firefighters and urban search-and-rescue guys," he said. "They had never dealt with anything of this magnitude. It was a protracted thing, and it was dynamically changing every day. But in the military, that’s what we do. We went with people who know how to deal with these things. They were down there doing something they had never done before, but there were great analogies between this and things they had done before." The response to the WTC rescue and recovery, MITRE officials believe,
showed the company’s knowledge and public service commitment at
their best. Said Jason Providakes, "To be part of such a cross-organizational
team so dedicated toward contributing to this most critical of national
needs, it makes me proud. "Trying to make sense of the World Trade
Center attacks is impossible, but if anything good can be taken away from
these tragedies, it is the knowledge of how to better respond in the future
if a disaster of this magnitude should ever happen again. Page last updated: May 7, 2002 | Top of page |
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