N.M. Tech Designing High-Tech Mobile Command Shelter
The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (N.M. Tech) plans to build a $5 million movable command center/shelter in Playas, N.M., that will also be used as a federal training site.
The structure, dubbed the Command and Control System, may also be used to monitor illegal aliens along the country’s border with Mexico, says Greg Mansfield, developer of the system at N.M. Tech. The shelter would resemble a trailer, but would be well protected from the weather, radiation, and electromagnetic interference, says Mansfield.
The structure would be made from carbon, glass fiber, and composite materials in collaboration with a company called Alkan Shelters.
A similar unit is now being used at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which employs the unit to perform nuclear contingency training, according to Lauren Whitehurst at Presence, an Alkan marketing affiliate.
In addition, the shelter would be able to protect equipment that is used to deploy information in real time to distant central command centers.
N.M. Tech has a roughly $1 million contract with the Department of Defense (DOD) to train DOD employees and enhance infrastructure. In 2003, the institute acquired a large section of land in Playas, and currently uses it to train members of the Border Patrol, Homeland Security, and the Army National Guard.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) from New Mexico Business Weekly (11/13/06); Trenkle, Jason.