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New Mexico Tech to transform Playas into training site
The remote southwestern New Mexico community of Playas is about to undergo a remarkable transformation, becoming a research, development, test and evaluation, and training complex.
In 2003, New Mexico Tech took steps to acquire the town from the Phelps Dodge Mining Company.
Securing pipelines, halting suicide attacks and testing new technology could be in the future for Playas, said Dr. Van Romero, New Mexico Tech vice president for research and economic development
Government agencies and private companies would pay to use the Playas complex, with their fees being used to fund its operations.
Romero said New Mexico Tech has a strong commitment to creating entrepreneurial - as well as employment - opportunities in the region, so every effort will be made to use local vendors.
The Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center - with its successes in performing in-depth scientific research investigations and training programs - will be responsible for the development, operation and management of the training programs at the Playas complex.
In the 1970s, Phelps Dodge built Playas to house its employees, who operated a nearby copper smelter. This copper mining and refining company created a complete, planned community of homes, apartments, and community facilities with many amenities for workers and their families.
When copper refining technology changed in the late 1990s, Phelps Dodge placed the smelter on standby status and Playas became a modern-day ghost town.
Located in the "boot heel" of the state where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the Sonoran, the Playas townsite encompasses 640 acres, with an additional 1,200 surrounding acres included in the complex.
There are 259 single-family homes, 25 apartment units, and a community center. Other amenities include a bank, bowling alley/fitness center/snack bar, fire station and medical clinic, plus a park, playground, swimming pool, skeet and trap ranges, helipad, and airstrip.
New Mexico Tech brings an extensive history in security research and training to the Playas program.
EMRTC, which has as its principal focus fundamental and applied research in energetic materials, is preparing a comprehensive master plan for the development, operation, and management of the Playas complex. This plan will cover the design, development, and operation of the instrumentation systems and monitoring network required to control, communicate, observe and record the operation of infrastructure systems, and the many types of testing and training scenarios that can be accomplished at Playas.
The Playas complex will allow EMRTC to conduct research, development, test and evaluation, and training in such areas as:
- First-responder training.
- Pipeline security.
- Bio-security research.
- Ecosystem/environmental experiments.
- Urban warfare exercises.
- Hostage negotiation training.
- Urban, customs and border security exercises.
- Emergency preparedness drills.
- Simulated nuclear-biological-chemical (including weapons of mass destruction).
- Deterrent exercises.
- Guerrilla warfare tactics.
- Special (covert) intelligence operations/tactics/training.
- Antiterrorism assistance training programs.
- Red team/blue team operations to infiltrate or attack defensive forces or measures to validate scenarios developed by various antiterrorism analysis centers.
In addition to the training programs, New Mexico Tech is planning development of a research and industrial park at the site.
"This park is a long-term goal and will be carefully developed to achieve the maximum economic impact on the region," Romero said. The park will focus on attracting companies involved in security-related research, testing and manufacturing.
New Mexico Tech also is working with public school districts and other colleges and universities to develop adult training programs that will provide pathways to technical associate degrees needed for employment within the proposed industrial park.
Job opportunities at Playas are likely to include positions for computer database specialists, instrumentation, environmental, and quality assurance technicians and machinists.
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