General Richard Myers was Acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on September 11th, and would be confirmed as Chairman just two days later. As Acting Chairman, Myers was the highest-ranking military official, and the third in command, behind only the Secretary of Defense and the President.
Myers was on Capitol Hill on September 11th, and went into a meeting with Senator Cleland to discuss his upcoming confirmation hearings after the first tower was hit. In an October interview Myers said that before the meeting he saw a television playing, and someone said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center:
The World Trade Center, known as a prime terrorist target since the 1993 bombing, is hit by a jet and there is live television coverage showing the 150-foot wide gaping hole in the building with fire and smoke belching out, and the second hijacking has just been reported, but Myers doesn't stop to look into it! Myers continued:
The Pentagon was hit 40 minutes after the second of the Twin Towers was hit, and almost an hour and a half after the FAA knew that Flight 11 was hijacked. Yet no one had interrupted Myers' meeting with the Senator to tell him the news?
On September 13th, Myers appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that confirmed his appointment as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Committee Chairman Senator Carl Levin asked Myers if the FAA, FBI, or any other agency had contacted the Defense Department after the jets crashed into the Twin Towers and before the Pentagon was hit. Myers replied that he did not know the answer.