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Pentagon 9/11 Recovery: Lessons in Crisis Response & Readiness
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On September 11, 2001, the Pentagon was left crippled by fire, water damage, and destroyed infrastructure after the terrorist attack. Days later, armed guards escorted my team and me into the still-smoldering building to restore critical communications for the U.S. Department of Defense.
In this episode, I share that story firsthand — what it was like to step into the epicenter of national crisis and lead a forensic recovery team tasked with bringing the Pentagon back online.
You’ll learn:
- 🔎 What really happened inside the Pentagon’s network after 9/11
- ⚡ The triage process for restoring thousands of servers and critical links under extreme pressure
- 🧠 Why readiness beats reaction — and why lessons learned matter more than blame
- 🏛️ Leadership under fire, featuring insights from Col. David Wills (U.S. CENTCOM & Joint Chiefs of Staff)
- 📑 Best practices for disaster response, from documenting your infrastructure to building resilient “tiger teams”
- 💡 How today’s organizations can apply these lessons to avoid catastrophic downtime — from data centers to Wall Street trading floors
This is more than a war story — it’s a framework for crisis management, cybersecurity resilience, and business continuity. Whether you’re a technologist, executive, or leader of any kind, the lessons from 9/11 remain vital today.
👉 Key takeaway: It’s always more fun to be ready. Preparation, documentation, and collaboration can turn disaster into an opportunity for growth.
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