Reflection of the Past 20 Years since 9/11

As so many people in the last few days have done, in reflecting over the past 20 years, and with tomorrow being the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, I can't help but thinking and trying to wrap my head around all that has happened in the past 20 years. Like so many, I remember September 11, 2001, as if it were yesterday. I was still in uniform, serving in the United States Navy. I was a LT back then and I had been selected for the Washington Navy DC Staff Intern Program. This program was a great opportunity to not only attend The George Washington University (GWU) in Washington DC, but to also have the opportunity to intern with some senior staffs and offices in the Washington DC area, and to work and observe some major staffs and the organizational leadership of each. The 15 Officers in the program were chosen from the fleet, and we reported to Washington DC in August of 2000 to start the 2-year program to earn our Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Management. After a semester of classes, we started our first internship in January 2001 with one of the Staffs in the DC area and it lasted 6 months. Most internships were with one of the offices at the Pentagon, i.e., Chief of Naval Operations Staff, or the Joint Staff. Our second internship started in June 2001, and we were authorized to find another staff or office, outside the Department of Defense, and if they would accept us as an intern, we would be authorized to work with them. I was lucky, and I found an office at the Department of State that agreed to bring me on for 6 months. It was in the Bureau of International Organizations, Office of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Operations (IO-PHO).

Working in the IO-PHO Office at the State Department was the most amazing experience. I was assigned with working Iraq Sanctions, and Mid East Peacekeeping Operations. Working with career Foreign Service Officers in this office, they taught me everything I needed to know. The morning of September 11 started out just like any other morning. I took the metro from my apartment in Crystal City to the Foggy Bottom Metro stop and then walked down 23rd Street to Main State. I was working in my office when I heard some loud discussion coming from our little reception/lobby area. The talk was that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center in NYC. As we were watching the TV, we watched as the second plane crashed into the second tower. Immediately, the director of the office, a Middle East FAO, directed each of us to return to our offices, pull the hard drives out of the computers, shut everything down and lock up our offices. We were under attack. As we were doing that, a call came in, the Pentagon had been hit by another plane. I was stunned and speechless. I lived in Crystal City, I could see the Pentagon from my apartment building, I had worked in the Pentagon, I had friends working in the Pentagon. How could this happen? What was happening? Why was this happening? All questions, that I know, almost everyone was asking. We were then directed over the loud speaker to evacuate the State Department as a call had come in saying there was an explosive in the garage. That turned out to be false, but no one really new. The streets were gridlock. I probably should have just walked home from Main State, but I jumped on a bus to try to get home. The bus went all over and every road was blocked or there was just no way to get through. Finally the bus made it to the 14th St Bridge, and it stopped as traffic was at a standstill. We all sat on the bus, speechless, for about 15 min, and just watched the smoke and flames coming up from the Pentagon. Finally I got up and walked to the front of the bus to the bus driver and asked if I could get off. The driver told me no, that she wasn't supposed to let people off on the bridge. I told her that clearly, this was an unusual circumstance, and that I could see my apartment building from the bridge. After a little persuasion, she opened the door and I got off the bus as did most of the passengers who followed me. As I walked back to my apartment, I couldn't help but think, did I know anyone who was injured, or killed at the Pentagon? What would happen now? How would our country respond?

As we have witnessed, that event sparked the Global War on Terror and a 20 year war in Afghanistan. Countless service members would be deployed and called to serve in Afghanistan thousands more supported the war effort. The Department of Defense puts the number of service members who died since the start of the war at 2,352, but many more have died as a result from injuries sustained, both seen and unseen. The affects of this war on families, friends and communities will last years and I worry that support for our service members will not be there when needed most. My last two years in the Navy were from 2010 to 2012 working at the Pentagon with a great team. Our mission then, should be a continuing mission for us all, to find resources for our service members, veterans and military families, and to assist them with long-term and sustained successful and healthy transition and reintegration.

Educators need to work with employers to create career pathways to meaningful employment. Whether that education is a degree, certification, apprenticeship, or licensure, the basis of some sort of education is needed for successful reintegration. I don't believe the work will ever cease, but I do believe that the needs evolve with time, and changes are needed. Organizations need to evolve with changing environments and challenges in order to stay relevant. Since leaving the Navy in 2012, I have found myself in the non-profit, veteran support, service provider type of career. I have worked with veterans who served and have hit rock bottom in life dealing with mental health, addiction and homelessness. I constantly meet veterans, service members, military families and Gold Star Families and talk with them, and do what I can to advocate for them, and connect with with services and organizations and people who I know can assist them with their needs. There are a lot of us advocating for our veterans and military families. But with less that one percent of the population serving in uniform, it's easy to forget why we are the United States of America.

Tomorrow, on the 20th Anniversary of September 11th, I urge all of us, to pause, reflect, and remember, not only those lost at the Pentagon, the World Trade Center, and the field in Shanksville, PA, but also all those First Responders who rushed into harms way to save lives and the families of all those no longer with us. Remember all our service members, veterans, military families, Gold Star Families, and for all those who raised their right hand and took an oath to the Constitution of the United States to serve for a cause greater than ourselves. Always Remember. Never Forget. #September11 #Reflection #Service #Sacrifice #Courage #GoldStarFamilies #Veterans #military #militaryfamilies #firstresponders #AlwaysRemember #NeverForget #Freedomisnotfree