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American Morning

Mobile Command Established in Qatar

Aired December 05, 2002 - 09:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas now, watching a very interesting exercise take shape. It's called "Internal Look," it is massive exercise for American forces in the Persian Gulf. Now, the war games start on Monday, and mark the first-ever test of the new high-tech mobile headquarters in Qatar. If the U.S. attacks Iraq, the tiny nation of Qatar may find itself playing a very key role. John Vause has made his way there, and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a command and control complex ready to go. Hundreds of modular compartments crammed with computers and communication equipment, conference rooms, and living quarters, able to gather information and images of naval, Air Force, and troop movements from around the Middle East.

It will be tested during next week's operation "Internal Look," a computer war game which will access the mobile command's ability to control, communicate, and command forces in the region.

Senior CENTCOM officials say the portable command center will stay in Qatar once the war game is over, but they won't say just how long, only for the time being.

The other military buildup here is at the billion-dollar Al Udeid air base, a high-security area which sits in the sand dunes just outside the capital of Doha. It is surrounded by miles of fences and concrete barriers well out of sight of most Qataris.

With the longest runway in the Persian Gulf, Al Udeid can handle the biggest U.S. military aircraft.

Right now, it is being used as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And Bill, the word that we're hearing over and over again as far as that portable command center, is flexibility. It can be packed up and moved in a matter of weeks. It also means that the commander in chief, General Tommy Franks, can be on the front lines of any battle, and he can communicate face to face directly with his commanders in the field.

As far as the scenarios that will be played out next week, that is classified, but when this war game was conducted in 1990, the scenario was an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia. Three days later, Iraq invaded Kuwait -- Bill.

HEMMER: John, if we go back a year ago to the war in Afghanistan when CENTCOM was essentially operating out of Tampa, Florida, there seemed to be, in talking with military members on the ground in Afghanistan, a large disconnect at times between what the U.S. military is interpreting and what orders they were giving out, and what the men and women were seeing firsthand on the ground. I'm assuming that in all of this, there is an effort contained there to cut down on that disconnect. Are you hearing much on that?

VAUSE: That's exactly what this is all about. It's all about putting the Central Command where the action is. One of the other problems that they had, particularly during the Gulf War, is that they were working out of very cramped quarters in Riyadh, and there just wasn't enough room for all of the chiefs of staff who were crammed into that small room.

And, once again, they had the problems with communicating with the headquarters in Tampa, very similar to the situation in Afghanistan. The officials here admit that they have actually brought way too much equipment, that they packed heavy. They are going to try and work out exactly what they need, what they don't need, so that that communication can be as crisp and as clear as possible -- Bill.

HEMMER: Got it, John. Thanks. John Vause in Qatar.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 5, 2002 - 09:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Overseas now, watching a very interesting exercise take shape. It's called "Internal Look," it is massive exercise for American forces in the Persian Gulf. Now, the war games start on Monday, and mark the first-ever test of the new high-tech mobile headquarters in Qatar. If the U.S. attacks Iraq, the tiny nation of Qatar may find itself playing a very key role. John Vause has made his way there, and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a command and control complex ready to go. Hundreds of modular compartments crammed with computers and communication equipment, conference rooms, and living quarters, able to gather information and images of naval, Air Force, and troop movements from around the Middle East.

It will be tested during next week's operation "Internal Look," a computer war game which will access the mobile command's ability to control, communicate, and command forces in the region.

Senior CENTCOM officials say the portable command center will stay in Qatar once the war game is over, but they won't say just how long, only for the time being.

The other military buildup here is at the billion-dollar Al Udeid air base, a high-security area which sits in the sand dunes just outside the capital of Doha. It is surrounded by miles of fences and concrete barriers well out of sight of most Qataris.

With the longest runway in the Persian Gulf, Al Udeid can handle the biggest U.S. military aircraft.

Right now, it is being used as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And Bill, the word that we're hearing over and over again as far as that portable command center, is flexibility. It can be packed up and moved in a matter of weeks. It also means that the commander in chief, General Tommy Franks, can be on the front lines of any battle, and he can communicate face to face directly with his commanders in the field.

As far as the scenarios that will be played out next week, that is classified, but when this war game was conducted in 1990, the scenario was an Iraqi invasion of Saudi Arabia. Three days later, Iraq invaded Kuwait -- Bill.

HEMMER: John, if we go back a year ago to the war in Afghanistan when CENTCOM was essentially operating out of Tampa, Florida, there seemed to be, in talking with military members on the ground in Afghanistan, a large disconnect at times between what the U.S. military is interpreting and what orders they were giving out, and what the men and women were seeing firsthand on the ground. I'm assuming that in all of this, there is an effort contained there to cut down on that disconnect. Are you hearing much on that?

VAUSE: That's exactly what this is all about. It's all about putting the Central Command where the action is. One of the other problems that they had, particularly during the Gulf War, is that they were working out of very cramped quarters in Riyadh, and there just wasn't enough room for all of the chiefs of staff who were crammed into that small room.

And, once again, they had the problems with communicating with the headquarters in Tampa, very similar to the situation in Afghanistan. The officials here admit that they have actually brought way too much equipment, that they packed heavy. They are going to try and work out exactly what they need, what they don't need, so that that communication can be as crisp and as clear as possible -- Bill.

HEMMER: Got it, John. Thanks. John Vause in Qatar.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com