Pentagon Insecurity
The recent shooting at the Pentagon shows that security improvements put in place since September 11 worked. The gunman was stopped by the first line of defense: highly-trained police officers who can take cover behind bulletproof shields, and who check that everyone passing the initial checkpoint has a building pass, before they can proceed inside to swipe their electronic pass for entry.
Richard S. Keevill, chief of the force that guards the Pentagon said at a news conference after the shooting, “We train with some regularity to see we can do it very quickly, and we did it very quickly tonight.”
The two Pentagon Force Protection officers involved suffered only “grazing wounds,” while the suspect died from the return fire. 
And the heavily guarded fortress was protected. Job well done!
Not so fast. In the words of the classic informercal, “But wait, there’s more.”
The dirty little secret is that what saved the Pentagon from disaster was the fact the gunman was unaware of a gaping hole in Pentagon security, and therefore fortunately didn’t know how to exploit it.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to explain it here. But trust me, as someone who has been in and out of the Pentagon thousands of times in the last two decades, I know where the shortfalls are, and there is a vulnerability that I pray will be addressed before something really bad happens.
All it would take is someone with intimate knowledge of how the security works, and the willingness to die in the attempt. I think we know our enemies are more than willing to give their lives to kill Americans.
Some history. Flash black to the innocent days of 1995. The Oklahoma City bombing reveals the vulnerability of big buildings to truck bombs. I look around the Pentagon where I work and I realize there is nothing to stop a similar attack here. In fact my huge plate glass window looks right out on a likely target zone. I raise the question, quietly with Pentagon officials. I am assured there is no problem. Security is fine, I am told. I go outside and take pictures showing how a truck could easily drive around the security gates guarding the approaches to the Pentagon. There is nothing but flat grass between the gates and the building. I am told by officials that there are other defenses I am not aware of. “Secret defenses” that would stop a vehicle before it got to the building. This reminds me of the myth that there are surface to air anti-aircraft missiles on the roof to shoot down attacking planes. No such missiles were deployed in the time I was there, and there were no secret defenses to protect against truck bombs. It was all BS.
What there was, was a long-term plan to fortify the defenses over a several year period, but officials understandably didn’t want to telegraph to terrorists that the Pentagon would be vulnerable for the next five years, essentially saying “If you’re going to attack, better do it soon.”
I discussed with my bureau chief whether to do a report about the security shortcomings, with the idea it might put the improvements on the fast track. In the end we spiked the story, worrying it might give too many ideas to bad guys, before the deficiencies could be corrected. So we held our breath, and hoped for the best. And over the years, many enhancements were put in place. By Sept 11, 2001, the building was far more secure, but not impregnable.
Then the plane hit, and security became an even bigger priority. Additional checkpoints were set up, tighter procedures were put in place for issuing building passes and escorting visitors, an entire road was moved at enormous expenses so trucks would not pass too close to the building, and giant earth berms were erected.
The Pentagon is now one of the most heavily fortified buildings in the world. But there is still a way past all this. In the movies the bad guys always come in disguised as workers in coverall and crawl through the oversize ventilation shafts. It’s always a fanciful depiction that is comforting in that it couldn’t happen that way in real life.
But at the Pentagon, there is still a way in that most Hollywood scriptwriters could figure out if they put their mind to it. There could be a Ft. Hood-style shooting at the Pentagon. Or even a breach like the insider attack on the CIA in Afghanistan. And if Chief Richard Keevill wants to know how it could happen, and take steps to prevent it, I could let him in on the secret.
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