Two by Two

Quick answer: Who was Rick Rescorla and why does he matter to 9/11?

Rick Rescorla was Morgan Stanley's head of security in the World Trade Center. After the 1993 garage bombing he warned the next attack might come from the air and drilled employees quarterly on the stairs. On September 11, 2001, his people knew the way down. He died in the South Tower's collapse.

Rick Rescorla ran security for a Manhattan firm on the upper floors of the World Trade Center. In 1990 he and an old Army friend walked the parking garage beneath the towers the way an attacker would, and warned the Port Authority that it needed guarding. The report went nowhere. In 1993 a truck bomb went off in that garage. Rescorla watched his people take too long on the stairs, told officials the next attack might come from the air, and urged his firm to leave. When it stayed, he started drills. Every quarter, two by two, everybody walked down, and he timed them with a stopwatch. People hated him for it. On September 11, 2001, they knew the way. That morning he ignored the order to stay put, sang to keep people calm on the stairs, and was last seen climbing back up. Thirteen of the firm's roughly 2,700 people there died; he was one. John closes with a plain assignment: take the stairs from your own floor to the street once, count the flights, and ask how you can take responsibility before the morning you need it.

Why it matters for leaders: Preparation looks like overkill right up until the day it saves everyone; lead the drill before the crisis.

Q: How often did Rescorla run evacuation drills?

A: Every quarter. He timed each drill, and employees walked down two by two; the firm's leader later recalled that people hated him for it.

Q: Where is Rick Rescorla memorialized?

A: His name, Richard Cyril Rescorla, is on panel S-46 at the South Pool of the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan.

Read the full essay on Substack → https://heroespath.substack.com/p/two-by-two

By John Fenzel, founder and CEO of Heroes' Path Foundation