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The Attack
Scores of people were injured, trapped. Before he made his way
to the triage area where medics from all services would gather to
treat and send off victims in ambulances, the senior Air Force medic
waded through fire, smoke and chest-high debris looking for victims
inside the Pentagon.
"The clock was ticking," retired Lt.
Gen. (Dr.) Paul K. Carlton Jr. later told People Magazine. "I
thought, 'If we wait for normal rescuers, we won't have anyone
alive.'"
It was Sept. 11, 2001.
At first he thought
it had been a terrorist bomb, "but then I saw the landing gear,"
Carlton said. "It was on the ground in the alley between the B and C
rings. When I saw it there, not only did I realize an airplane had
struck the Pentagon, but it was clear that the plane had come
through the E, D and C rings to get there."
Aerial view of the Pentagon after the E Ring collapsed Sept. 11, 2001.
(Dept. of Defense photo)
The plan
The
terrorist attack on the Pentagon 10 years ago shook the
nation; however, the aftermath could have been much worse if
not for Carlton's efforts months earlier.
One of
several Airmen awarded the Airman's Medal for lifesaving
contributions on Sept. 11, 2001, Carlton was the Air Force
surgeon general when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed
into the Pentagon. He wasn't thinking about it at the time,
but the tragedy was replete with ironies. First of all,
Carlton's office wasn't in the Pentagon; it was across town
at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. The fact that he
was there when the plane hit was a coincidence.
But
the biggest irony -- if not saving grace -- was that he had
approved what were apparently the first-ever mass-casualty
exercises at the U.S. military headquarters earlier in the
year.
The origin of the May 2001 exercise was a
stairwell conversation in February 2001 between Carlton and
now-retired Col. John Baxter, who was the Air Force's Flight
Medicine Clinic commander in the Pentagon at the time.
Baxter suggested a mass casualty exercise. Intrigued,
Carlton and Baxter tried to come up with a scenario until
their conversation was interrupted by a jet taking off from
nearby Reagan National Airport.
"We had to stop
talking because the jet noise was so high," Carlton said.
"Then we resumed our conversation."
Baxter suggested
the idea of an aircraft hitting the Pentagon. He did not
suggest wild-eyed terrorists bent on murder. In fact,
Baxter's idea was mundane compared to the reality of what
was to come.
"'Why don't we have an airplane hit a
bunch of birds, lose an engine, do a VMC rollover (which
means one engine is out and the flying speed is not enough
to prevent the airplane from rolling over on its back) and
hit the Pentagon?'" Carlton said, repeating Baxter's
suggestion.
"I thought it was a great idea," Carlton
said.
The tabletop exercise, developed by Baxter and
approved by Carlton, included the Army's DiLorenzo Tricare
Health Clinic and the Air Force Flight Medicine Clinic, both
housed within the Pentagon. Representatives from Arlington
County Emergency Medical Services and various agencies also
participated.
Carlton said they "did not do very
well on the exercise" and set a "get-well" date for Sept 1,
2001. Even so, Col. James Geiling, then-commander of the
DTHC, later said this exercise prepared them well to respond
to the Pentagon attack on 9/11. For example, the Air Force
Flight Medicine Clinic retooled its trauma packs and
staffers from both clinics were issued special blue vests
labeled "physician," "nurse," or "EMT," to allow for easy
identification.
The "get-well" exercise in early
August was a mass casualty exercise that involved a practice
evacuation and treatment of wounded. Retired Gen. Lance
Lord, then-assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force,
was a participant. He later told Air Force Space Command
News Service: "(It was) purely a coincidence; the scenario
for that exercise included a plane hitting the building."
Lord also said that on 9/11, "our assembly points were fresh
in our minds" thanks to this practice.
The irony
didn't stop there for Carlton. When he became Air Force
surgeon general in October 1999, Carlton chose two cities to
work on for mass casualty management: Washington D.C. and
New York City. Prior to 9/11 he had lectured on the topic to
the New York City Council of Hospitals and the Washington
Hospital District.
The
Action
Carlton said that like many folks
directly involved that day, it was difficult for him to talk
about for quite a while. His Airman's Medal citation, which
focuses on the very beginning of his September 11
experience, offers insight as to why.
"General
Carlton entered a room filled with chest high debris,"
according to his Airman's Medal citation. "Although half the
room was engulfed in flames and smoke filled, General
Carlton and several other rescuers located a trapped victim
who was stuck under some fallen debris. The men could see
the trapped victim, but could not quite reach the man. One
of the rescuers cleared the debris while General Carlton
tried to pull the victim free.
"He then placed a
water-soaked tee shirt on the victim's face to aid his
breathing. The victim was roused, and realizing the imminent
danger they were all facing, rolled to his left far enough
for General Carlton to grab him. They were then able to move
the victim to safety. All the while, the room continued to
rain fire and debris on General Carlton and the others.
"As the fire intensified and moved closer in the room,
General Carlton continued to sweep the room for other
victims. There was a loud noise, the flaming ceiling began
to fall and one of the rescuers shouted for all to leave the
area. As the metal caging in the ceiling gave way, General
Carlton helped the others to escape the burning room."
The Present
Today, Carlton is the director of innovation and
preparedness for the Health Science Center at Texas A&M
University in College Station, Texas. He has consulted on
homeland security and disaster response for many
organizations -- most recently the destroyed medical center
in Joplin, Mo.
Ten years after the Pentagon attack,
Carlton is optimistic but cautious.
"We have faced a
determined foe who has shown us repeatedly that life has no
meaning, and used a weapon we did not expect him to use," he
said. "Our enemy out-thought us. We can never let that
happen again!"
He also kept the blue vest.
"It's a reminder that we live day-to-day," he said.
By G. W. Pomeroy, Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs
Air Force News Service
Copyright 2011
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