By Bill Bell Jr.

After a little more than a week on the job, Missouri's new terrorism czar cautioned that once the United States struck back at Osama bin Laden -- which it did Sunday via missile strikes in Afghanistan -- "bin Laden may deliver a blow, and that blow will be significant."

So early this week, Daniel said he would make four specific recommendations to Gov. Bob Holden, the man who hired him.

Daniel, 51, declined to say what the recommendations would be. But when he was hired, he said he would concentrate on "consequence management" -- whether the state is prepared to deal with the aftermath of an attack.

The answer, so far, is yes, Daniel said. The floods of 1993 and 1995, together with the specter of another earthquake along the New Madrid Fault, have pushed Missouri in front of a lot of other states in disaster planning, Daniel said.

During Daniel's first week on the job, he talked to officials at the Missouri Highway Patrol and the State Emergency Management Agency. He also watched a drill at AmerenUE's Callaway nuclear power plant near Fulton, Mo.

Already, though, Daniel said he was shifting his focus to spend more time on deterring a terrorist from even attempting an attack in Missouri, and stopping a terrorist from completing such an act once it is started.

"Everybody in Missouri who has responsibility where people gather to work or play needs to take security with a little bit more of a sense of urgency," Daniel said.

Daniel, a retired Army colonel, was the garrison commander -- akin to a city manager -- at Fort Leonard Wood from 1997 to 2000. He pushed for road improvements linking the base to Interstate 44 and helped establish the first U.S. Army business park on a major Department of Defense military installation.

Larry Sexton, who worked with Daniel on the projects, said Daniel can think outside the box.

"Tim's a visionary," said Sexton, who owns a car dealership in St. Robert, Mo. "He's a strategic thinker."

Daniel and Sexton made presentations to the state Highway and Transportation Commission, where Daniel rubbed elbows with chairman S. Lee Kling. Kling is a prominent fund-raiser in state politics and serves as the civilian aid to the Secretary of the Army for eastern Missouri. Kling said Daniel was a good fit for the job, in part because of his experience with the chemical warfare defense and military police schools at Fort Leonard Wood. "He's got a perfect background for this," he said.

After serving as garrison commander at Fort Leonard Wood, Daniel followed his boss, Maj. Gen. Robert B. Flowers, to Washington when Flowers became the commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Daniel's wife stayed behind, working at a family practice clinic in Columbia, Mo. Daniel lived in the Washington area while doing long-range planning for the corps. He retired from the Army in July and returned to Missouri.

Holden named Daniel to his new job on Sept. 26. His title is the governor's special adviser for homeland security.

Daniel says even as a boy, he thought about a military career. His father, Glenn "Bud" Daniel, had been a Marine Corps pilot in World War II.

Tim Daniel was drafted for the Vietnam War in 1970. He never saw active duty in Vietnam because his orders to go were canceled three times. Daniel got his commission as an officer and a degree in International Relations in 1975.

With the Army Corps of Engineers, Daniel oversaw $120 million in construction projects in Turkey and Israel.

In Turkey, Daniel worked on the rebuilding of five U.S. Army bases. Just before he arrived, Daniel said, three American soldiers were gunned down by terrorists. In Israel, he worked with the Israeli Defense Ministry on a classified construction project in Tel Aviv.

"I have a very unusual career because I spent so much time trying to solve problems overseas," he said.

Daniel returned stateside and commanded a battalion at Leonard Wood. He then worked at the Pentagon in long-range planning. After his many travels, Daniel said, he returned to Missouri because of the friends he has made here.

"There's a lot to be done in Missouri," he said. "I want to be a part of making a difference."

AMERICA RESPONDS

Reporter: Bill Bell Jr.

E-mail: bbell@post-dispatch.com

Phone: 573-635-6178

Published in the A-section section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Tuesday, October 9, 2001.