September 11, 2026, marks 25 years since the deadliest terrorist attack in American history—a day of almost unimaginable loss that changed our country and the lives of a generation. As we remember those who lost their lives, those who responded, and those who answered a call to serve in the years that followed, the anniversary is a moment to reflect on how technology has strengthened military, law enforcement, and public safety – but also where we have opportunities to further enhance the capabilities and operations of these missions.

Ari Schuler (President of goTenna) spent nearly a decade in federal service at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), where he created and led the CBP Innovation Team (CBP INVNT), a unit designed to identify and deploy innovative technologies to keep Americans and our homeland safe. The September 11 attacks were a call to action for Ari and the primary driver for his government service – inspiring him to dedicate his career to delivering technologies that reduce risk and save lives in emergency scenarios.

With the 25^th anniversary of the attacks approaching, we sat down with Ari to discuss the impact 9/11 had on him personally as well as an entire generation of public servants and warfighters. We also asked Ari about the tactical and technology gaps exposed by the attacks, and how new technologies are reshaping homeland security, the battlefield, and emergency and disaster response.

The Last Mile (TLM): How did 9/11 affect you personally, and how did it influence your decision to work in government?

Ari Schuler: That morning, my best friend and roommate woke me up and told me the towers had been hit. I was a junior at American University in Washington, D.C., and like everyone else, we were glued to the TV.

Rumors were everywhere. At one point, we heard the Washington Monument had been hit by a plane, so we went up to the roof of our apartment building to look. The monument was still standing, but we could see smoke rising from the Pentagon.

Before that day, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I had always been interested in government service, but 9/11 made the mission clear. I knew I needed to serve in some way.

TLM: What was the broader impact of 9/11 on government and public service? Did that drive more people to serve?

Ari Schuler: It was enormous. One of the things I love about our team at goTenna and Forterra is that so many people have a version of that same story and the call to action. goTenna has a significant veteran workforce, and many of them joined after 9/11.

I didn’t serve in uniform, but I knew there were still meaningful ways to contribute. The men and women who serve as warfighters, operators, law enforcement officers, and first responders need technology that helps them do their jobs more effectively and safely.

That became my mission- getting capabilities into the hands of the people on the front lines – something I was lucky enough to do at DHS and CBP. Across Forterra and goTenna, you see a workforce driven by that mission, whether they wore the uniform, served in government, or supported those missions from industry. You don’t have to wear the uniform yourself to be driven by protecting the people who do.

TLM: You mention your desire to help, and now you work for a defense and homeland security-oriented communications company. Were there communications gaps in technology prior to 9/11? How did these challenges impact the response?

Ari Schuler: The attacks exposed an existing interoperability problem. So many responding agencies came together for an unprecedented mass-casualty response, and many could not communicate with one another. That communications gap became one of the central lessons of the 9/11 Commission’s findings.

The Commission’s report cites numerous instances of communication failures and interoperability issues. This includes the Port Authority Police Department’s (PAPD) use of different radio frequencies, which hindered a comprehensive, collaborative response. There are also references to the New York Police Department’s radios getting overwhelmed with calls about missing, trapped, and injured police officers.

“You need technology that works when infrastructure fails. It has to operate offline, off-grid, at the edge, with information delivered in a way that does not overload the operator.” — Ari Schuler

Unfortunately, this lack of interoperability and communication has remained a persistent challenge. Just in the past decade, this challenge was again highlighted in the 2023 Maui wildfires, where cell towers went down, and police and fire fell back on radios that weren’t interoperable across departments, cutting off communication between agencies when it mattered most.

It was on display again in 2024, when investigators found that responders to the Butler assassination attempt relied on personal cell phones instead of a shared radio channel connecting Secret Service, state police, and local units. This left critical information siloed instead of reaching the whole security team in real time. Even 25 years later, we continue to relearn the same lesson: communications infrastructure has to be resilient and interoperable by design, not something agencies patch together in the moment.

On a personal level, I remember that communications broke down everywhere that day. Landlines were overloaded. Cell phones were unreliable. I remember using AOL Instant Messenger to tell my family I was okay because the data lines were still working. That was striking at the time, and it foreshadowed where we are today – data communications can be as important as voice, and sometimes more reliable.

What is troubling is that the same pattern still appears in disasters and attacks. Cellular networks have become the primary communications tool for civilians and, increasingly, for law enforcement. But those networks are not designed for disaster-level capacity. When a major incident happens, they get overwhelmed.

TLM: What was situational awareness like for the agencies and organizations that arrived at Ground Zero on the morning of 9/11?

Ari Schuler: I was not an incident commander on 9/11, so I would not presume to describe their experience. But from my own work in DHS and CBP, I can say that even in ideal circumstances, true situational awareness is hard.

You need technology that works when infrastructure fails. It has to operate offline, off-grid, at the edge, with information delivered in a way that does not overload the operator. That matters because, in a crisis, cognitive load is already high. This is why communications and situational awareness must be seamless.

This is also why technology and training must come together before the emergency happens. We have seen in smaller incidents that when agencies lack a shared operating picture, the response becomes harder and riskier.

TLM: What did the government learn after 9/11, and what progress has been made?

Ari Schuler: The post-9/11 recommendations spanned intelligence reform, border security and homeland security improvements, and more. On the communications side, interoperability was clearly identified as a problem.

However, over the following years, the government learned that solving interoperability is incredibly hard. Some efforts struggled, including ambitious attempts to field interoperable voice radios.

“Forterra has already delivered more than 100 autonomous Lancer vehicles to Ukrainian forces, where they’ve logged over 1,100 missions and 88 CASEVAC operations, keeping soldiers out of the most exposed logistics and resupply runs on the battlefield.” — Ari Schuler

But there have also been major successes. The Team Awareness Kit (TAK) ecosystem has become a gold standard for shared situational awareness among US agencies, allies, and partners. It showed that interoperability is not only about voice communications. Data communications—such as location, text, status, mapping, and shared operational information—are just as important.

A text message or data update can confirm receipt. A shared map can show where teams are located. A voice transmission, by contrast, can be missed without anyone realizing it. That shift toward resilient data and shared situational awareness has been one of the most important changes since 9/11.

TLM: After nearly 25 years, is the problem solved?

Ari Schuler: No. But we now have a much better understanding of what the solution looks like.

The modern cell phone is an incredibly powerful computer with a great screen and an ecosystem of software and wearables that integrate with it. Software like TAK and tools that integrate into that ecosystem, including the goTenna Pro+ app, can give operators a shared operating picture. Mobile mesh networking can also create large, resilient networks without relying on fixed infrastructure. That matters if infrastructure is compromised by a malicious attack, a cyber incident, a natural disaster, or even a solar event.

The technology exists. The challenge is adoption and training. Some agencies already live and breathe these tools. Others are still moving toward full utilization. In a crisis, one unexpected action can throw a plan into chaos. Training and seamless technology are what allow agencies to respond effectively and save lives.

TLM: If the technology exists, why haven’t all agencies and government organizations adopted it?

Ari Schuler: The challenges are different for the military than for law enforcement and public safety. On the military side, communications compete with many urgent priorities – ships, munitions, supply chains, satellites, missiles, hypersonic technology, and other high-profile programs. Communications are the fabric that ties everything together, but they are not always treated as the most visible or exciting investment.

On the homeland security, state and local law enforcement, and public safety side, the first challenge is budget. Much of homeland defense happens at DHS and at the state and local government levels. However, police, firefighters, and emergency responders often do not receive resources comparable to the military.

“25 years after 9/11, we face many of the same challenges today. But as a society, we can do far more to prepare.” — Ari Schuler

The second challenge is training. Public safety officers have limited training time each year. If operators don’t use new technology regularly, they will not have the confidence to use it during an emergency. That is why training and operational support are so important.

We don’t want to hand over technology to operators without proper training. Operators need communications to work seamlessly so they can focus on their mission — whether that is law enforcement, firefighting, emergency response, or military operations.

TLM: If another major emergency happened today, how could current technologies make the response better, more effective, and more coordinated?

Ari Schuler: The major disasters are what draw attention, but the everyday missions are where the difference is made. The U.S. Border Patrol is a good example. Border Patrol Agents work across vast areas where cellular service will never be reliable, and satellite can be limited by cost or terrain. In those environments, knowing where your team is, knowing whether they are safe, and being able to find them in order to quickly render aid can be lifesaving.

When agencies use resilient communications and shared situational awareness every day, they are better prepared for the major incident. In an active shooter response, teams need to know where everyone is. In a terrorist attack, responders need to know where friendly forces are to avoid confusion and reduce risk. The more situational awareness operators have, the safer the response is for them and for the public.

This is also where Forterra’s autonomous systems become even more relevant.  Forterra is focused on getting operators out of harm’s way by automating dangerous vehicle missions. With programs like ROGUE-Fires, the goal is to remove people from missions where counterfire and other threats create extreme risk. This isn’t theoretical: Forterra has already delivered more than 100 autonomous Lancer vehicles to Ukrainian forces, where they’ve logged over 1,100 missions and 88 CASEVAC operations, keeping soldiers out of the most exposed logistics and resupply runs on the battlefield. Combined with goTenna’s ability to provide pervasive communications and location awareness, the future is one where humans are either kept out of the most dangerous missions or better protected when they must go into danger.

It is the mission of our military, law enforcement, and first responders to protect the public – whether it be from terrorist attacks driven by violent ideologies or natural disasters.

While we will never eliminate every loss of life or property, technology in the hands of trained operators saves lives. We now have tools that would have been almost unheard of 10, 20, or 25 years ago: phones that can serve as powerful situational-awareness platforms, mesh networks that can support operators in minutes, and software that lets multiple agencies see the same operating picture. The future is challenging, but there is reason for optimism. We have better tools than ever enabling us to make a meaningful difference for the frontline operator.

We cannot prevent every act of violence or natural disaster, and technology must be used by well-trained operators to be successful. 25 years after 9/11, we face many of the same challenges today. But as a society, we can do far more to prepare. We can invest in cutting-edge, resilient capabilities, put them in the hands of trained operators, and ensure those operators are ready to use them when the worst happens. That is how we honor the lessons of the past—by doing everything within our power to reduce the human cost of the next crisis.