My DCMA “Remember 9/11” edition showcases the Defense Contract Management Agency’s experienced and dedicated workforce as they reflect on the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The campaign highlights that tragic day’s personal and professional impact on agency team members. Today, David Fagan shares his story. 

My name is David Fagan, and this is “My DCMA.” 

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was an intern working at the then Defense Contract Management Command’s Northrop Grumman Baltimore office. I remember walking across the parking lot after listening to the radio during my drive to work. Everything had seemed normal. 

In the few minutes it took me to leave my car and enter the building, everything changed. When I walked in, everyone was gathered around a television in the break room. The first plane had already struck the World Trade Center. As a New Yorker, I was concerned, but I did not yet understand the magnitude of what had happened. We did not know the size of the aircraft, and I assumed it had been a terrible accident. 

When the second plane struck, we realized it was intentional and our nation was under attack. 

For my generation of New Yorkers, the twin towers defined the city’s skyline. Watching both towers fall felt unreal, like something from science fiction; artificial intelligence before AI. Then the Pentagon was attacked. The place where I had grown up and the region where I was living were both struck on the same day. 

Earlier in 2001, I had questioned my place in government service. I had completed extensive training in software acquisition, software development life cycles and systems development, but I did not fully understand how it connected to a larger purpose. 

After 9/11, activity at the Northrop Grumman facility increased dramatically as the nation prepared for operations in Afghanistan. The plant supported radar, sensors and other systems needed by the warfighter. Suddenly, all the training that had once seemed abstract made sense. 

I understood that my job was to help ensure those systems worked properly, were delivered on time and were provided at the right price. The people deploying in defense of our country needed equipment they could depend on. Almost overnight, I went from wondering whether I wanted to remain in government to knowing I had a job to do. 

I have never served in the military, as so many people at DCMA have. Everyone’s connection to the agency’s mission is different. Those who put on the uniform and raised their right hand have a connection I would never claim to share. 

Service members train for war. For civilians like me, 9/11 was what war looked like when it reached home. 

That experience gave me my own connection to DCMA’s mission and the people who serve. It showed me why our work matters and why caring for those who wear the uniform is a responsibility shared by the entire defense community. 

My path to the agency began after I earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Tennessee. I visited my brother, who was serving in the Navy and working for a predecessor organization of DCMA at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He introduced me to his supervisor, and that meeting eventually led to an offer to join the intern program. 

I entered government service in May 1998 and have been part of the mission ever since. 

Today, I serve as a lead software policy analyst with DCMA’s Technical Directorate. I write and manage policy supporting approximately 260 software acquisition professionals in the field. They help ensure contractors developing software meet the terms of their contracts and deliver products that work properly at the appropriate price. 

I also advocate for the workforce’s needs at headquarters, answer policy questions and connect DCMA’s field software community with agency leadership. As technology evolves, we are exploring how artificial intelligence can help field personnel perform their jobs more efficiently, particularly when staffing and resources are limited. 

After 28 years, I know I am closer to the end of my career than the beginning. That makes passing along knowledge increasingly important to me. 

There will come a day when no one remaining at DCMA will have served in one of its predecessor organizations. Eventually, no one in the agency will have personally experienced 9/11 as a member of the workforce. We must pass down more than technical knowledge. We must also share our stories, our sense of urgency and our culture. 

DCMA is not a large organization, but it has an exceptionally important mission. Artificial intelligence can help us retain and use information, but technology alone cannot preserve an organization’s soul. We have to share the experiences that explain why the work matters and pass our commitment and esprit de corps from one generation to the next. 

The country came together after 9/11, but that unity followed tremendous pain. We should also remember that some Muslim and Middle Eastern Americans were treated unfairly in the aftermath. Remembering 9/11 means learning from the entire experience and embracing our fellow citizens as Americans. 

The effects of that day continue to move through our workforce like ripples across a pond. Someone may believe they have no personal connection to 9/11, but I would encourage them to listen to their colleagues’ stories. Its impact remains present in our agency and our mission 25 years later. 

I would never wish the experience of that day on anyone. As we move farther away from it, however, I do not want us to lose the urgency it brought to our work. 

“Never forget” is more than a saying. We must never forget how we felt that day, why our mission matters and what we are here to protect. 

Editor’s note: DCMA’s “Remember 9/11” is a campaign reflecting on the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and the lasting impact 25 years later through stories of remembrance, resilience and service. We invite you to share your story by emailing the DCMA Public Affairs inbox. DCMA Public Affairs hopes to share as many stories as possible but cannot guarantee every submission will be published.