FBI Command Center Unconventional

By PAT MILTON Associated Press Writer

September 26, 2001, 3:00 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- Inside a dingy garage reeking of motor oil, scores of FBI agents sit elbow to elbow on folding chairs, tapping leads about terrorists into laptop computers amid the din of ringing telephones.

Fast food and doughnuts are piled on tables, and wires for 300 new phone lines hang from the warehouse-like building that has been transformed into New York's nerve center for information about the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.

It used to be the place where mechanics did brake jobs and transmission work on the FBI's fleet of vehicles. The cars are gone, replaced by agents, prosecutors writing arrest warrants, and intelligence analysts poring over tips to ferret out the identities of people suspected of helping the 19 suicide hijackers.

The move from the FBI's New York headquarters, situated blocks from the trade center, was done partly for security reasons. That building was targeted by terrorists in 1993 in a failed plot to blow up New York City landmarks.

After the Sept. 11 trade center attack, "we definitely thought we were next, that we would be a target," said Joe Valiquette, an FBI spokesman.

But practical reasons were also behind the decision to set up shop in the FBI garage: Dust and thick black smoke had seeped into the FBI's headquarters in lower Manhattan, and the phone lines had gone dead.

Inside the garage, little outside light filters through windows covered with grime and graffiti, and a few fans blow the musty air around. But the agents, prosecutors and members of a combined police and FBI terrorist task force do not seem to notice the dismal surroundings.

They have been joined by investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.

"We are well on our way to solving this," FBI assistant director Barry Mawn said after walking through the command center, patting a few agents on the back and asking about their families. "We have made a lot of progress. We have identified all 19 hijackers and we are trying to identify their support group."

In one part of the garage, members of a special unit of the terrorism task force -- created four years ago to study Osama bin Laden -- review names and information gathered in the past two weeks and cross-reference them with known terrorists.

Near two large TV sets tuned to all-news stations, a group of agents fields new leads and dispatches them to investigators nationwide.

Mawn and his top deputies work in cubicles with U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White and her seasoned terrorism prosecutors: Andy McCarthy, Dave Kelly and Ken Karas.

At one point, Mawn uses a microphone connected to two loudspeakers to encourage his troops: "We're making progress. Thanks for the hard work."

Despite their low-tech surroundings, the agents are working with sophisticated tools. The FBI's Rapid Start software provides agents with instant access to information from fellow agents across the country. Leads in classified FBI intelligence databases can be cross-referenced with databases from other government agencies.

Two agents maintain an open phone line to the FBI's Strategic Information Operation Center, a vault-like chamber at FBI headquarters in Washington, where authorities oversee the international dragnet.

Secure telephones scramble signals to prevent eavesdropping on daily afternoon conference calls with Washington.

Mawn said no agents have complained about their duties or long hours.

"I have had a hard time getting them to go home and get rest," he said.

The sheer destruction and lives lost in the attacks provide their main motivation, Mawn said.

"We are going to continue to work hard to identify them (terrorists) and hopefully prevent this from happening again. Ever," he said.

Expecting to be working at the garage indefinitely, agents have put up some reminders of why they are there. A big American flag hangs from the ceiling with the task force's blue banner next to it. Posters painted by schoolchildren are pinned to walls. One says, "God Bless the FBI."

And in one spot hangs the front page of the Daily News with a picture of bin Laden and the headline "Wanted, Dead or Alive." Copyright © 2001, The Associated Press

-- Anonymous, September 26, 2001