9-11 hero headlines AFDW Wingman Day

Published Jan. 14, 2010
By Benjamin Newell
AFDW PA Specialist

Air Force District of Washington -- Michael Hurley knows the value of a good wingman. On Sept. 11, 2001, he was charged with locating an alternate command center location after the World Trade Center's tower one was deemed unsafe for the emergency workers bunkered in its basement following the initial attacks on New York City. On his way out of the doomed command center, he grabbed a random coworker. The two made their way towards the World Financial Center, located between the twin towers and Hudson River.

"It was thought at that point that even though tower one was damaged, we had time to execute an orderly evacuation," said Mr. Hurley.

As they crossed the covered, elevated pedestrian bridge linking the World Trade Center with the World Financial Center, tower one collapsed, killing everyone who remained in the command center.

Mr. Hurley had served as the New York City Port Authorities' point man for fire contingency and emergency response in the World Trade Center and was intimately familiar with evacuation procedures and the day-to-day operations of the massive structures now under attack.

In a matter of seconds, many of the professionals at the New York City Port Authority, Police and Fire Department, FEMA, and vast array of civil engineers with whom Mr. Hurley worked with for years were gone. Mr. Hurley was running for his life.

"It was just like you see in the movies," said Mr. Hurley. "Debris was falling around my ankles as I sprinted. It seemed like it was slow motion, but I'm positive that's the fastest I've ever run in my life...Crossing that bridge took forever."

Mr. Hurley recounted his tale of heroism in the face of 2001's terrorist attacks during AFDW's Wingman Day, held Jan. 13 at the Andrews AFB theater. Centered around directorate level events, Wingman Day gives AFDW Airmen the chance to appreciate the coworkers who provide critical support daily. Airmen are also asked to recommit to being good wingmen.

Mr. Hurley and the wingman he chose to help search for an alternate command center, whose name he does not share during public presentations, made it to the World Financial Center and safety, eventually stopping at the point of exhaustion in a small park along the Hudson.

The two men were, as far as they knew, the only ones left with an operational knowledge of the World Trade Center. They had to get communications back up. They had to reconnect with the first responders now pouring into Manhattan as people fled the island. They had to get back to the World Trade Center, or what was left of it.

The ash clouds that choked off airways also made navigation nearly impossible. Mr. Hurley was panicked and was ready to take an extreme measure to try and escape the expanding cloud that plumed from the felled tower. He was down the rungs of a ladder, ready to jump into the Hudson River and circumvent the chaos by swimming to another point of access when his wingman spotted a small path off to the side of the park and towards first responders.

"Right at the last second, right as I was about to jump, he called over the edge and said, 'Here, I've got a path,'" said Mr. Hurley.

They were now making their way back to the collapsed sentry that had stood watch over New York City for so long.

Since that day, Mr. Hurley has become the lead on the recovery and reconstruction effort and taken his story and collection of ash-fogged slides to the FBI and other agencies to try and spread the message about the importance of inter-agency cooperation and integration at all times, not just during emergencies.

Mr. Hurley's wingman has since left his post and the site of so many tragedies on that day. His actions and resourcefulness are memorialized in a special and anonymous way, during the presentations that Mr. Hurley regularly gives to organizations like AFDW.

"We must take advantage of this day to remember the importance of the wingmen in our organization," said AFDW Commander Maj. Gen. Darrell Jones, introducing Mr. Hurley to the auditorium of 250 AFDW employees.

"This is just a really great example of the Air Force's great tradition of cooperation and teamwork," said Sgt. Vernicia Smith, an executive assistant in A4/7. "A wingman got him through that, and we can help get each other through as well."