Disaster Recovery Journal Fall 2025

the organization. They must become the continuity program they work. As they say in the Army, they must be tactically and technically proficient in their job. Organizations will develop confidence from the proficiency of critical staff. You can’t grow that overnight and in a hurry. The stresses inherent to living through an emergency will impact operations, and maybe for years after an event. A good continuity program can help mitigate that risk for the whole organization by creating structure and organization. These stress ors defy explanation beforehand. Usually, a variety of stressors come together in unforeseen ways to threaten operations. A National Institute of Health Study conducted by Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas studied survi vors of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. They found one-third (34%) developed post-traumatic stress dis order (PTSD) and nearly one-half (45%) had a post-disaster psychiatric disorder. Many organizations in New York City after the attacks on 9/11 saw organizations overwhelmed by the emotional trauma suffered by the survivors. A New York Federal Reserve Bank study on 9/11 saw 30% of their sample on survivors’ report reported an increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, and/or marijuana. These same people who increased their use of ciga rettes and/or alcohol were also found to be more likely to have PTSD and major depression. A trained staff helps manage ment deal with such issues. Inevitably, any disaster will change the operating environment for an organi zation. The Federal Reserve Bank of NY issued an interesting report on the impact of 9/11 on the local economy. The destruc tion of the towers caused a loss of 500,000 square feet of retail space and the physical destruction of more than 700 small busi nesses. The attack also destroyed 14 mil lion square feet and damaged 16 million square feet in other buildings. Roughly 25% of office space in lower Manhattan disappeared after the attack. The local economy experienced a loss of 57,000 jobs and 18,000 businesses

instantly. Management needs experts to help them to create situational awareness then know the internal processes required to gather survivors and set up camp some place else. Thinking on your feet can save unfore seen lives as the event occurs. Way back in 1993, Al Qaeda first tried to blow up the World Trade Center Towers. They did it via truck bombs in the parking garage of the towers. Six people died in the resulting explosions. Afterward, the New York Port Authority stepped up and tried to make the towers safer. They spent $93 million in building safety improvements to prepare for the next event no one thought would ever occur. The port authority did things like putting reflective paint on stair rail ings and stairwell doors, installing sec ondary power source to fuel emergency feathers, like lighting and more sprinklers to name a few changes. Those changes few thought they would ever need paid off in the middle of the second attack. Those changes changed the situation for the people in the towers during 9/11. Those changes meant everyone below the impact zone of the aircraft on 9/11 lived. That might not be the case had the experts not stepped up in 1993 and did what was required. Another incredible story of the impact of having the right person at the right place lies with retired Lt. Col. Rick Rescorla. Through the years, the press have reported his story many times. Rescorla was both a retired British and American soldier. He had experience fight ing in both Cyprus and Vietnam. He took his job as the security director at Morgan Stanley very seriously. His place of work was in the WTC Towers. Rescorla ran reg ular evacuation drills every six months for his staff. Employees had to walk down the stairs during this evacuation. The repeti tion of the drills honed employee skills to a point where they could find their way out in the dark. These drills helped people pre pare for the event no one thought would ever occur. Rescorla’s ideas paid off on 9/11. Morgan Stanley lost only 13 people –

including Rescorla – out of 2,700. That low casualty count helped Morgan Stanley quickly reconstitute much faster than the competition. A “person over program” mantra offers organizations several benefits. That person becomes an anchor point and billboard for the program. They show employees man agement’s values and views on continuity every day. That person implements the program and regularly checks organiza tional readiness. The right person showing confidence sets the mood for emergencies, and contingency preparation for the whole organization. Organizations need to realize plans, made by contractors or AI at best gets you to the event. As the famous quote by German Gen. Helmuth von Moltke con tends, “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” How your organization survives after the “bang” depends 100% on people, not plans. After the bang of an event, leaders and experts must act. They must gather the facts and chart a plan. Then, the most unconventional options seem to surface. For example, New York City’s Emergency Operations office was in the towers. That loss of office space did not stop Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The key to success after an emergency comes from leaders and expert’s activities, not AI, or contractor plans. Organizations that have been trained correctly act without even waiting for leaders to act. The key through the turbulent future rests with people who are tactically and technically proficient in the craft. We must remember hope in software or contrac tor’s work is not a viable option in the real world if the worst does happen. v

Thomas Magee is a recently retired federal civil servant with more than 35 years of experience working continuity programs for several agencies in multiple agencies. He also is a retired Army Reserve officer with

28 years of experience. Lt. Col. Magee is a veteran of both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has three master’s degrees in administration, history, and communications. Magee has also graduated from several Army and DHS schools. He and his wife Renee reside in the Kansas City area with their two dogs.

32 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | FALL 2025