Paul Nosek watched news coverage of planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11 from a conference room inside the Pentagon.
‘Somebody said, ‘Hey, I’m not going to eat in the center courtyard because if they can hit (the World Trade Center towers), then they can hit us,’ ” said Nosek, a retired Air Force colonel who recently became senior instructor of Plum School District’s Air Force Junior ROTC program.
Minutes later, at 9:45 a.m., American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the west side of the Pentagon. All 64 people on the airliner and 125 military personnel and civilians were killed.
“You could hear it go whoosh on this side and then whoosh (on the other) side. The ceiling tiles blew up and kind of sucked the air out your lungs,” Nosek said.
“Everybody was like, ‘What was that?’ You knew what it was, but you said it anyway.”
Nosek said the number of lives lost could have been much higher had the plane crashed into another area of the building.
“That (area of the Pentagon) was mostly empty at the time. It was also the newly renovated wedge, so they had the new fire suppression systems, the new fire doors and stuff, so it could have been much worse,” Nosek said.
“I try to think positive, but it’s still tragic that that many people died.”
About 27,000 people work at the Pentagon.
This Sept. 11 also will mark another major event in Nosek’s life.
That’s when he expects to close on a new home in Canfield, Ohio, from which he’ll commute to the Plum job. He’s moving to the region from Virginia.
Nosek said he applied to be an instructor at four high schools and interviewed at three before deciding on Plum.
“I am appreciative that Plum gave me an opportunity to continue to serve my country in uniform, even though I’m a retiree, to help inspire and lead the future generation,” said Nosek, 50.
About 75 cadets are in Plum’s program, including three from Penn Hills. Penn Hills’ Navy Junior ROTC program was eliminated in 2019 because of a lack of cadets and money. The two districts have approved annual agreements since then in order to let Penn Hills cadets continue their education.
Nosek will work alongside retired Master Sgt. Kevin Butler, who handled all instructional duties last school year after the departure of retired Air Force Col. Richard Peterson. Peterson moved with his family to Virginia.
“I am excited to have a new leader, mentor and team member that is as enthusiastic as I am to prepare our students for success,” Butler said.
Nosek served in the Air Force from March 1994 through May 1, 2021.
“I had 13 different locations and 18 different jobs during (my career),” Nosek said. “I was assigned to many places.”
He deployed to Afghanistan from 2015 through 2016 and served under Gen. John F. Campbell as a liaison to the U.S. embassy in Kabul. He also worked at the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington and served as an associate deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force. His last position before retiring was as deputy director of manpower and personnel for the Space Force.
“It’s a lot of hard work starting a service from scratch,” Nosek said of his time with the Space Force.
Nosek said he won’t have to do that in Plum. He said he hopes to build on the successful JROTC program that’s in place.
“If you look at the trophy case, they’ve done very well,” Nosek said. “I don’t want to just make change for change sake just because I’m the new boss. I come in, evaluate all the programs and see where they are. If we have the bandwidth to add any programs, we’ll do that.”