Published 04 Dec 06

Beyond the DropZone

W. Thomas Smith Jr.

Stopping an attack on U.S. soil
An interview with Maj. Gen. Tom Garrett, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security

Major General Garrett

Major General George Thomas "Tom" Garrett (U.S. Army, ret.) believes "leadership" to be "the essential element of combat power." That may sound simple to some Americans, particularly those who have never slogged through the mud with a rifle. But to a man like Garrett, who has commanded combat arms units (artillery, armor, and infantry) at all levels for most of his life, it's an all-encompassing statement representing his approach to homeland defense.

Garrett was the commanding general of the 42nd Infantry Division – the Army's famed "Rainbow Division" (so-Christened by one of its earliest commanders, Gen. Douglas MacArthur), today a multi-state National Guard division – on September 11, 2001.

That morning, Garrett and some 250 officers and senior non-commissioned officers were attending a command seminar at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. When the first terrorist-commandeered plane struck the first tower of the World Trade Center "we initially thought it was some pilot, who, on a beautiful day, couldn't control his aircraft," Garrett tells World Defense Review. "After the second plane hit, there was no question in the minds of any of us [watching the events unfold on television] that we were under attack. We were from New York; we had to get back."

The local airport offered to fly Garrett and his command back the following day, but according to the General, that wasn't fast enough. "We didn't know what the next day would bring, or if there would be any aircraft available," he says.

Those officers driving rental cars tossed their bags into the trunks and starting heading east. Garrett and the others boarded large buses hastily chartered by the state of Kansas, which also arranged to have bus-drivers pre-positioned along the way in order for the officers to travel non-stop.

Meanwhile, four of Garrett's battalions from the 42nd ID moved into lower Manhattan and began coordinating efforts with the New York Police Department. "They were on scene in two hours," says Garrett.

Soon after arriving, Garrett was appointed commander of the New York National Guard's Joint Task Force during the subsequent disaster recovery effort.

In the spring of 2002, Garrett became chief of the Homeland Security Division - New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. In that capacity he directed the military operational and logistical personnel assigned to New Jersey. He coordinated homeland security efforts with other state agencies, and he commanded the New Jersey National Guard's Joint Operations Center.

Garrett served as chief of the Homeland Security Division until his official retirement from military service in February 2004. He was then named "special assistant to the director" of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) – an office, which Garrett contends might serve as a model for homeland defense efforts, nationwide. At NJOHSP, he also oversees the state's counterterrorism arm.

In an exclusive interview for World Defense Review, Maj. Gen. Garrett discusses his national homeland defense concerns, America's existing homeland defense capabilities, and what American citizens must do to help thwart another attack on U.S. soil.

SMITH: What are some the homeland defense challenges – New Jersey-specific – that most concern you, today?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Mass transit. We are such a dense population here. We're a quarter state: People come in-and-through us, moving back-and-forth through New York City, which is really the hub of everything around here.

So mass transit security is our number one concern.

Having said that, we also pay a lot of attention to port security simply because we have two ports – Port of New York/New Jersey [the largest container port complex on the eastern seaboard] – most of the facilities of which are on the Jersey side. We also have a significant port in the Camden and Philadelphia area in the southern part of the state, most of which are refineries and bulk cargo.

We also have a very critical state infrastructure, and interruption of it would effect the entire Northeast. And that goes back again to the refineries and pipelines, but also the highways and the truck traffic that move goods back-and-forth.

SMITH: You mention port security: Are we doing everything humanly possible to secure our air and seaports?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: The day somebody comes in and says, "We've done everything we can do," is the day we need to get some new people on the job.

We can never say, "We've done everything we can do." Things may always be improved, even without additional funding. We can [improve] by simply changing the way we do things, refreshing our operations.

What we did following 9/11 with our airports is an excellent model of what can be accomplished with some focus and good leadership. I think it's time to shift that kind of approach to our other priorities like seaports and mass transportation. Not to back off from the airports, but to say these are the things we are going to focus on now. We are going to see our resources directed this way: Our training directed this way, and our leadership focused on it.

SMITH: What are some of your national homeland security concerns?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: I think what we are concerned about here in the state of New Jersey would represent our national concerns. Obviously, that is going to depend on who you are, where you are, and what you have in your backyard.

SMITH: Do you believe that as a nation we are doing everything we can to protect ourselves from a WMD [weapons of mass destruction] attack? And where do you personally believe we might improve in our defense against WMD attack?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Again, I can't tell you we are doing everything we need to be doing. What I can tell you is there is a tremendous amount of effort going into our detection devices, and our intelligence that would preempt an attack.

The last thing we want to do is respond to an attack. We want to prevent an attack up front. We think that there is a possibility of course [of a WMD attack]. We are convinced that our enemy would like to do it. If they have the means, they certainly have the will to do so.

SMITH: What can we do to be better prepared?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: We need to make sure the public is engaged and involved; and be encouraged to tell us what they see or don't see, and report what is suspicious so that we can act on it in a proper way.

We also need to continue educating the public on what to do if there is an attack, so that we can mitigate it and reduce the casualties to the greatest extent possible, and not clog up the roadways, etc.

New Jersey has come a long way in setting up a state-regional team to address WMD. We have tremendous skill-sets. A lot of training goes into this. Training goes on everyday. We also have a civil support team with the National Guard, which is a high-end, high-tech mechanism in response to an attack. But the key on WMD is not to allow it to occur in the first place.

SMITH: I agree, because I believe if a nuclear weapon goes off in New York, this country – and the world as we know it – is over.

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Well, it's certainly going to hurt, and it would be traumatic for a long time. I don't know that the world would end, but clearly it would affect the way we live in America for a long time. And whatever our response would be would be the telling factor. We have to remember there were atomic attacks on Japan. And as terrible as they were, at the end of the day, those people recovered – a lot because of their own resiliency – and I think Americans are just as resilient, if not more. But we don't want to have to face that challenge in the first place.

The name of the game is to detect, deter, and prevent the attack. And this office spends a lot of time working with the people developing the detection technology and the various federal agencies in helping to vet it and employ it where appropriate.

We don't want to stop something in the mouth of the Lincoln Tunnel; we've got to detect this stuff before it gets into the city while we still have standoff distance.

SMITH: And you believe we are developing the capability where we might have a chance at accomplishing that?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Yes I do.

SMITH: That includes good intelligence, correct?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Most of what we do is based on intelligence.

SMITH: We all – I'm speaking of the public – are familiar with the watch-phrase: "If you see something, say something." But the ordinary American may not know what they are supposed to report. What is unusual? What is out of the ordinary? And when does it become suspicious? For instance, if we were to consider any street corner in Manhattan; there are many things happening at any given moment that might be considered unusual to anyone. So when does that move into the realm of suspicious activity?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: We have developed a list of what we call seven signs of terrorism [these may be found at http://www.njohsp.gov/pdfs/7-terrorism-signs.pdf]:

• Surveillance
• Elicitation / seeking information
• Tests of security
• Acquiring supplies
• Suspicious people who do not belong
• Dry run / trial run
• Deploying assets / getting into position

SMITH: Do you believe our domestic intelligence gathering capabilities have improved significantly since 9/11?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: We have a lot of well-trained, good people working that side of the house. We work very closely with both the state and numerous federal agencies. I do believe that information sharing is improving. It has improved. There's always more that can be done. A lot of the walls are down. We don't have the kinds of turf wars that might have existed previously. And we use technology to assist us in this effort quite a bit.

SMITH: What are some of the specific technologies you speak of?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Let's just say that we have increased our ability to develop a common operating picture quickly, our ability in transferring information, and our interoperable communications. It all starts with the human element: Working together, practicing together, and knowing and trusting one another.

SMITH: Do you consider the war in Iraq part of the Global War on Terror?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Absolutely. You know people say it's breeding more terrorists. Look, terrorists are there anyway. I'd rather have them swarming into Iraq where we know they are – and we can take them on – than to have them spread out throughout the world trying to figure out how to get here.

SMITH: Considering the Global War on Terror, General, what keeps you awake at night?

MAJ. GEN. GARRETT: Quite frankly, I don't worry about the tactical or even the operational stuff, because I think we are doing a pretty decent job on that, and we continue to improve. What bothers me the most is that I'm not so sure the American public accepts the strategic aspect of the conflict we are in.

This is a Global War on Terror. It's going to be a long, long fight. In my opinion, this is World War IV. World War III was the Cold War. This war could last 50-or-more years, and if we don't have the will to stay in this, we're going to pay for it, one way or another.

I would rather fight them now and keep them from getting set, and continue to protect the homeland so that we don't have more 9/11s. Appeasement is where some people want to take us, but that is not going to be respected by our enemy (it is a secondary step to – in their minds – surrender).

We need to stay strong and resolved. This is not a political statement.

It's like any military operation or campaign. You don't always win every fight, but you've got to win the campaign. And that's where we are right now.

We have a saying in the infantry – "leadership is the essential element of combat power." I think that's where we are right now. We need leadership in this fight at every level, and we have to fight as a nation.

So what bothers me the most is that I don't think we stay focused on the common objective.

— W. Thomas Smith Jr., a former U.S. Marine infantry leader, parachutist, and shipboard counterterrorism instructor, writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans and on the West Bank. He is an award-winning author of four books, the co-author of two, and his articles have appeared in USA Today, George, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, National Review Online, CBS News, The Washington Times, and many others.

W. Thomas Smith Jr. can be reached at wthomassmithjr@yahoo.com.

© 2006 W. Thomas Smith Jr.

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