Mobile Command Centers Roll into Fairfax County for Annual Demonstration Rally

Some of the biggest and most sophisticated emergency response mobile command centers turned out for the 7^th Command, Control, and Communications Vehicle Rally on Friday.

Large and small mobile command centers from Federal, state and local police and fire agencies lined the Fairfax County Police Driver Training Track in Chantilly for three hours. Jim Wadsworth, coordinator and founder of the event, said the event pulls local law enforcement and fire agencies and agencies from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Wadsworth said the event is more about training than show.

“We’re trying to expose mid-level emergency responders how to use the communication equipment at large-scale events,” Wadsworth, manager of the Fairfax County Radio Services Center said Friday. “Just because someone has their CDL license and drove the RV or trailer to a situation doesn’t mean they know how to set it up. That’s what we try to emphasize.”

More than 50 SUVs, RVs and trailers including the FBI’s mobile conference room, a 57-foot long 89,000-pound trailer that can hold 48 people, were on display. Those on hand walked from vehicle to vehicle, asking questions about each other’s communication setups and traded tips. Vendors who supply the mobile command centers were on hand displaying some of their new technology. Chris Essid, director of the Office of Emergency Communications, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said it’s important for rallies like the one in Fairfax County to exist in order for emergency responders to share tips in improve communication at situations. The event was not open to the public.

A Fairfax County police helicopter buzzed across a makeshift parking lot at the training area, muffling the sound of gunshots at the shooting range just adjacent to the rally. As the helicopter moved closer to the FBI’s massive, roomy conference room trailer, the pilot pulled up sending the helicopter in an upward angle before he stopped mid-air and hovered before disappearing just beyond the horizon.

County police Officer Brendon Miller said the pilot was demonstrating how helicopters can get aerial video and stills in a matter of seconds and transmit them to a command center below. When helicopters aren’t available to gather information from above, Fairfax County police have a video camera atop their command center that can extend more than 15 feet up and capture real time video.

“It’s a place where emergency coordinators can meet when there’s a major incident,” Miller said of the RV command center that’s equipped with a round table, monitor, satellite and camera. “We only use this at large scale events.”

In the smaller variety, the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Operations can deploy an SUV equipped with two computers, a satellite and telephones. Sulayman Brown said his agency can respond to a large-scale event in Fairfax County in about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on traffic. Brown said the county’s emergency operations division coordinates communication between different agencies that respond to one incident.

“We’re the ones assisting the groups responding,” Brown said. “We get them what they need. We are the liaisons.”

Organizing the rally takes about six-months to pull everything together, Wadsworth said. Even though some of the vehicles travel from afar, they are still on call and can be called into action. Wadsworth said two of the local mobile command centers at the rally were called to a disturbance at the Pentagon before the event opened. Wadsworth did not know which agencies the two mobile command centers were from.

“Every one of these vehicles is an actual operational vehicle,” Wadsworth said. “If something happens, they have to go and we know that.”