When the second plane went in, I remember saying this is obviously an attack and the next attack

is going to be on some command and control facility.

I remember standing there looking at the Pentagon saying, life as we know it will never be the same.

Hey, welcome back to another episode of The Spear, a podcast by the Modern War Institute at West Point.

I'm John Amble, editorial director at MWI, and The Spear is our platform to explore the combat experience.

Each episode includes a single one-on-one interview with a guest who walks us through a particular event and their role in it.

A battle, a firefight, a mission.

It's a first-person account of combat.

This episode is a little bit different

than our previous ones in one important way. The story we're featuring didn't take place in a

combat zone, and yet much of it, the chaos, the uncertainty, the importance of individual initiative,

and more. Echoes themes we've heard in previous episodes.

On September 11th, 2001, Lieutenant General Robert Castlen was a colonel assigned to the Pentagon.

Today he's the superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point,

and I had a chance to talk to him about what it was like to be there on the day the plane hit the building, signaling really a

dramatically new era for the U.S. military.

A couple notes before the conversation.

First, remember that you can follow MWI on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to stay updated

on everything we're doing, and check out the MWI website at MWI.usma.edu to see new articles, podcasts, research,

and more. And also, as always, what you're about to hear are the views of the participants

and don't represent the position of West Point, the Army, or the U.S. government.

All right, let's get to the conversation.

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