Exercise time for Raytheon's portable headquarters

The mobile war room has gone to war. Or at least to an exercise.

So far, Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa is happy with what is known in military-speak as a deployable joint command and control.

Developed by Raytheon Co. at its facility in St. Petersburg and shipped from its parking lot in September, the portable centers are designed to help the U.S. military more quickly respond to crises around the world.

CENTCOM is in charge of military activities in the Middle East and south Asia and is running the war in Afghanistan. Last week, the centers were used in exercises in Qatar.

"It's been very, very successful," said Lt. Col. Jim Yonts, a CENTCOM spokesman. "The shelters have proven worthy to the demand we're putting on them with the new technology. The leading-edge capabilities they provide to us have been very successful."

For security reasons, Yonts could not discuss the technology involved. But as a portable office that replicates headquarters in Tampa, he said, it definitely works.

"It does provide to us the communications needed to command and control forces in our area of responsibility," he said.

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