BLE Feature

Fall 2002
Volume 109 - No. 3

Taking a stand

Harp at the Office of the Commander of the Marine Forces Pacific.

One year ago, the world watched with horror as terrorists killed thousands of people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. After that horrible day, many people felt the need to do something - anything - to help.

One of those who felt compelled to act was Andy Harp, an attorney for Taylor, Harp & Caller, a law firm designated by the BLE to represent members in accordance with the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA).

Harp, a Marine Corps reservist, had a personal connection to the attack. He spent many weekends drilling in the section of the Pentagon that was destroyed in the suicide attack and he knew one of the pilots on that flight.

Harp was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (OASD) for Reserve Affairs. He would have lost more friends in the attack had the OASD office in the Pentagon not been moved in late August of 2001.

"OASD for Reserve Affairs was on the heliport side of the building (which was the section of the building which was hit)," said Harp. "After the attack, I spoke with the office and learned that they had been moved only a few weeks earlier due to the renovations that were ongoing in the Pentagon at the time."

Harp was mobilized a few weeks later to serve as the Officer in Charge of the Crisis Action Team for Marine Forces Pacific. During certain crises, the Marine Corps Pacific Command is dual-tasked with the job of also being Marine Forces Central Command. Referred to as MarCent, Marine Forces Central Command supplied the Marines who are (or were) fighting in Afghanistan.

The Crisis Action Team is a 24-hour, seven day a week command center that watches over all of the events, not only in Afghanistan, but also the remainder of the Pacific. Harp's team of officers and senior enlisted kept the Commander and Command informed of all events that affected Marine Forces. Harp was demobilized at the end of December.

"We were in constant contact with Marines on the ground and in the air over Afghanistan. The Marines, both men and women, of the Crisis Action Team were one of the first to be mobilized and serve after September 11," Harp said. "They, along with other reservists and National Guard members, continue to serve around the world."

Harp encourages everyone to thank the mobilized National Guard members or reservists that they know when they get home.

"They are making an effort to stagger their needs by having one officer follow another as OIC so as to complete the mission but not overwhelm any one person," Harp said. "We had lawyers, judges, small business owners, large business managers, teachers, police officers, railroad employees and others in all kinds of occupations, who dropped everything to come and serve. Most will go home with little or no fanfare.

"No one was mobilized that did not have to make some personal sacrifice, whether they were in Afghanistan, on board a ship, on a base in the Arabian Gulf, or serving elsewhere in support of Operation Enduring Freedom," he concluded. "I had a seat watching history. It is a worthy cause and our nation can be very proud of taking this stand."

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