Ground-Mobile Command Center

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Ground-Mobile Command Center (GMCC) was a U.S. Army project to build secure, mobile command posts for use by the President after a major nuclear attack. The effort began in 1981. A previous idea, the National Mobile Land Command Post (NMLCP), had been discussed in the 1960s but was shelved. The GMCC was developed by TRW Inc. under Ronald Reagan’s administration and served as the Army’s counterpart to the Air Force’s Nightwatch, which kept the President in a hardened aircraft to stay in command during a crisis.

GMCCs were 18-wheel tractor-trailers equipped with defensive systems and advanced communications. They allowed the President or his successor to direct U.S. nuclear retaliation while traveling in a post-attack, irradiated environment. The vehicles were hardened against electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and were nicknamed “doomsday trucks.” They were reportedly positioned in locations unlikely to be hit in a first strike, with Colorado and Nebraska among the cited sites, and would have nearby fuel depots and spare parts. The plan was not for the GMCCs to be the main way to move the President; they would come into play after air evacuation of the leadership and would gradually take over full command operations in the post-attack period.

Separately, US Northern Command operates a mobile consolidated control center (MCCC) as an alternative headquarters. This is a convoy of survivable, road-mobile trucks that can coordinate emergency and counteroffensive actions if primary facilities are destroyed or overrun.