Joan Lunden Behind Closed Doors: The Pentagon

for most of us our image to the Pentagon is pretty much fostered by cloak-and-dagger novels and big-budget Hollywood films tonight we will dispel the myths and take you inside the real world the world that exists behind closed doors since 1943 every major military decision in our country has come out of this building amazing considering they can't physically launch a missile from here but they can order it there are no silos buried underneath the building no aliens hidden underground what you will see on the surface is a maze of seventeen and a half miles of endless hallways of lots of people what you don't see is the top secret world that includes intelligence communications and the war rooms of the four military branches from the maintenance workers to four-star generals all of the Pentagon's 25,000 civilian and military employees effectively work for one man Secretary of Defense dr. William Perry my principal management technique is what's called mbw a management by walking around I tried to go and meet with and talk with the people who are most important in the Defense Department typically secretary Perry arrives in his office early and begins his 15 hour day with a staff meeting every day at 7:30 a.m. he meets with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff four-star general john shalikashvili as the president's top military advisors general shall his first job of the day is to give a classified briefing to the secretary on what's happened in the world overnight no clue why the injection didn't work don't know born in Warsaw Poland raised in Illinois General Shah Lee's career path was unlikely considering he never planned to be in the military I have every intention of becoming an engineer bought myself a 1957 Chevy impeller and on that day receives my draft notice take yourself back to that moment I i worse Thunder struck I knew that if I went into the service my total paycheck wouldn't cover my car payment for my new impeller I still was convinced I was just going to spend my two years in the military nearly 35 years after leaving Peoria Illinois the general was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs by the president when colon Powell retired in 1993 supporting General shalikashvili are the military elite including the foreheads of the services once a week the country's highest-ranking generals Admiral and Commandant meet in a secret session what's behind this closed door has never before been filmed it's called the tank and since 1957 this has been the private off-the-record conference room for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and what goes on inside this room stays inside this room the tank is completely soundproof there are no windows no phones and no transcripts are ever published you're not gonna do it how do you know about this right tell me about what goes on behind those closed doors it gives us an opportunity to sit there and shape the military advice that we wish to give the Secretary of Defense or the President or the National Security Council does it get heated do they have that sense that they can say anything absolutely I think it can get heated but most conversations are really six of us trying to solve a problem that affects us equally I guess last April this is the Pentagon parking lot and at first glance it looks like any other parking lot but 60 feet below me encased in steel and concrete is what we would call a war room the Pentagon calls it the Army Operations Center down here cell phones and pagers won't work the most secret room is called the bunker you said the army Joe Ryder it is here that action officers deliver their weekly intelligence and operations briefings to the chief of staff top ranking generals and selected commanders we don't want a lot of people to know it exists not because we have anything to hide we don't advertise our existence and those who know or need to know no we were here like the army each of the services has its own war room ultimately all the intelligence they gather monitor and discuss is fed into one place this is the National Military Command Center for the military watches the world it's the nerve center of the Pentagon and to gain access here you have to go past three armed checkpoints have a top secret clearance and a need-to-know you are inside what might be the most sophisticated communications facility in the world a three-story windowless enclave with electronic eyes the hallways are lined with speakers the steady sound of music provides white noise hampering the ability for electronic monitoring from the outside data fed from satellites reconnaissance pilots field commanders television and wire services provide a constant flow of information monitored by a watch commander who must hold the rank of at least a general or a natural the most important thing that's going on is to get the information that we need to filter it to make sure that we assess that it's accurate and then make sure that we pass it up in a timely manner up to our national leadership I am here just to execute the orders during the recent attacks on Iraq the NMCC is the place where the president's orders to fire were processed then delivered to the base and the ships where the missiles were ultimately launched during the crisis who do you call who do you wake up initially our requirements are to notify the chairman and then get the Secretary of Defense on the line and make sure his staff and assistants are notified kind of like an everyday question but what if the wife answers the phone normally in the middle of the night on the phones that we call it's not the spouse the NMCC is the nucleus of the larger military command system should the NMCC be destroyed or even temporarily disabled the responsibility for receiving and executing presidential orders is shifted to any one of three alternate sites strategically located throughout the country deep underground Port Richey Maryland inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado or Offutt Air Force Base Omaha Nebraska this is the headquarters of nay on America's elite top-secret national airborne operation center codename Nightwatch the heart of Night Watch is the e4 be a military modified 747 also known as the flying White House this is the real claim that the president the secretary and the Joint Chiefs would use in the event of a catastrophic emergency prayer for mercy launch it is a self-contained communications platform there are four e four B's in existence one is always on alert fueled and ready with the battle staff of at least 65 they can be airborne within minutes we have the capability that the other command centers do not have is that were mobile we could move and for bad weather natural disaster or some type of threat we can move and avoid that Night Watch is set up for long missions there is a stateroom that doubles as an office a soundproof conference room was seating for 10 a full galley bunk beds for the crew and some limited seating but the majority of the Interior is occupied by the battle station and the communication equipment it takes to run it on top of the jet there are several antennas housed in the distinctive dome these antennas link the commanders on board with secure phone lines faxes and teletypes giving them the ability to communicate with everything from satellites to submarines and anything in between we can reach them anytime anywhere any place worldwide outside of the cockpit the only windows onboard are on the doors all are covered with wire mesh to protect against the effects of a nuclear blast what really sets the e-force evan 47s is its midair refueling capability at 29,000 feet going 450 miles an hour it is an aerial ballet the pilots describe it as the hardest maneuver to perform in a 747 we do have capability to stay up for an indefinite period of time nominally about 72 hours with only one aircraft did we had all of our aircraft we really could continue to keep an airborne presence indefinitely it's a beautiful aircraft and I think if the pay ever came that we could execute our mission if called upon but I think all of us hope that that never happens and we like to think that one of the reasons that it never happens is because we exist but if that day ever does come the goal is to be prepared every day on every watch all for command centers work together drilling for the ultimate a nuclear war let's say it was something really bad let's say it's a missile being launched how much time do you have under 30 minutes in order to make a decision so under 30 minutes whether it's real or just a scenario every procedure is scripted like a plague drills are never longer than 30 minutes and in that half hour the watch commander and his team effectively function as a classified telephone company what we're doing Joan is setting up a virtual conference room as if we were all sitting in the same conference room simultaneously they must locate and connect the military hierarchy including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense secretary based on the latest information that we have I recommend we had the president because particularly the Missile Crisis your greatest enemy is time so my role is to advise both the secretary Perry and the president on what is going on and what the options are and what the recommended course of action is as a matter of fact when you go through one of those drills you are absolutely convinced that someone is goofing around with a clock that you can't have so little time left in the event that nuclear weapons are ordered the watch commander one additional responsibility and that brings us to the key around your neck we have to make sure that we have the president in the event a national crisis exists and before we continue the decision-making process we have to authenticate make sure that he is the man we're talking to these keys just allow me access into the safe to get to the codes to perform that function mr. president your orders have been transmitted all saints' have acknowledged sir this conference will remain open to provide you the latest information as it becomes available it's serious business and while the probability may not be real high the seriousness of the program the fact that zero defects are authorized in this business is sobering tonight as the crisis in Iraq escalates the decisions coming out of this building will continue to be debated analyzed and criticized as all decisions have been for the last 50 years you're up here at the top I mean it's always the people at the top that take the heat how hot has it been for you it's been hot even if we were not for the public attention and the public and the congressional attention all of those keep a spotlight on what we're doing even without that it's internally generated heat when you realize that what you're doing you must realize that what you're doing is ordering deployments but you're going to send thousands of people into dangerous situations the best advice that I received was to make sure that in this environment in this town you do not fall into the trap of rationalizing your decisions tell the truth tell what you believe the right thing to do and he'll always be right thank you very much

Channel: JoanLunden

Views: 34,620

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Length: 13min 27sec (807 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 30 2016