Training, Not Technology, Seen As Key To 9/11: "... According to the official Federal Emergency Management Agency's report on the reactions of first responders to the New York City, Pentagon, and Shanksville, Penn. accident scenes, it was the presence or lack of an organized command structure – and by extension, a communications structure – that helped determine the success of the operations. Within New York City, a temporary command post set up within the lobby of the WTC 1 tower within four minutes was destroyed when the second plane hit WTC 2; the collapse of WTC 1 destroyed the more permanent command center housed in a building across the street."

As a firefighter at Ground Zero and now with GSA Michael Pena pushes for better emergency communications: "On Sept. 11, 2001, Michael Pena was off duty, but not for long. After news spread of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Pena, one of three lieutenants with the Fire Department of New York City’s Rescue Company 1 in Manhattan, an elite group on the order of the Navy Seals, reported to the scene just as the south tower collapsed.

His experience with communications issues at the local level has left him sounding frustrated. “The main problem with communications in New York City is not the technology but rather the human factor of the police department and the fire department not wanting to communicate with each other,” he said. .... “It did change a little after 9/11, with the integration of radios placed in both police department and fire department supervisor cars to be able to communicate with each other on the command level. This is where the interagency communication needs to be, not on the operational level between firefighters and police officers.” "

Lessons Learned - Are There Any?: "Communications interoperability was one of the nightmares of 9/11. The cops couldn’t talk to the firemen, the firemen couldn’t talk to the cops, and sometimes they couldn’t talk to each other. This is not a technological problem. The solutions are available as off-the-shelf equipment. The barrier to a solution is the same as it has always been - political. Instead of asking “how do we do this?” the question is usually “who will be in charge?” "

Secretary Chertoff on September 11: Five Years Later: "... And I will tell you in a very straightforward way, the obstacle here is not technological; we have the technology. The obstacle is that we need to build procedures across governments and among agencies where we have agreement about what the rules of the road are going to be."

Training, Not Technology, Seen As Key To 9/11: "... According to the official Federal Emergency Management Agency's report on the reactions of first responders to the New York City, Pentagon, and Shanksville, Penn. accident scenes, it was the presence or lack of an organized command structure – and by extension, a communications structure – that helped determine the success of the operations. "