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The Spear

The First Firefighters at the World Trade Center on 9/11

The Spear

John Amble

Government, News

4.8642 Ratings

🗓️ 22 February 2018

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode doesn't feature a combat story. But the conversation with FDNY's Chief Joseph Pfeifer is strikingly similar to the story we've heard in past episodes about combat. Like those, it covers crisis decision-making and leadership under stress. On 9/11, Chief Pfeifer and his firefighters were just blocks away from the World Trade Center when the first plane hit. Listen to him talk through the emergency response and how FDNY leaders navigated an incredibly challenging day.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

And we were standing at a gas leak in the street, and we heard this loud noise of a plane coming overhead.

0:20.0

And what happens is you never hear planes in Manhattan because of the tall buildings.

0:24.6

And we see this plane streak past us.

0:27.6

And then I saw the plane aim and crash into the World Trade Center.

0:34.6

And crash into the World Trade Center.

0:46.6

And at 8.46 that morning, we knew that all our lives were going to change, that we were going to the biggest fire of our lives.

0:53.6

Hi, and welcome to the Spear, a podcast by the Modern War Institute at West Point.

0:58.4

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

1:05.3

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

1:11.6

A battle, a firefight, a mission, it's a first-person account of combat.

1:16.6

This episode, though, is just a little different.

1:19.6

My guest is Chief Joseph Fyfer of the New York City Fire Department.

1:23.6

On September 11, 2001, he was a battalion chief, among the very first firefighters on site after the first plane hit the World Trade Center.

1:31.3

His story from that day and what we can learn from it about leadership under stress, decision making in a crisis.

1:39.3

The parallels with some of the combat stories we feature are really remarkable.

1:43.3

Before we get to the conversation with Chief Fifer, a couple really quick notes.

1:48.0

First, if you're not following MWI on social media, find us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

1:53.0

It's a great way of staying up to date on the new articles, podcast episodes, and research we're publishing every day.

1:59.0

And second, as always, what you're about to hear are the views of the participants

2:02.0

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

2:06.5

All right, here's my conversation with Chief Joseph Pfeiffer.

2:14.7

Chief Pfeiffer, thanks for joining us for an episode of The Spear.

...

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