WHEN Maxwell Smart, the clumsy secret agent 86, walks into the spy agency CONTROL he must first survive half a dozen large and fast-closing metal doors. Each closes differently, and each is designed to keep intruders out. Then he reaches a phone box, the final hurdle, and drops through the floor.
There is more than a touch of Get Smart about the new Defence headquarters that are surrounded by sheep paddocks and little else in Bungendore.
There are no 1960s phone boxes, but the security is tight.
The site could at first be mistaken for a huge storage shed rather than a state-of-the-art military facility. As you approach the gate the high-wire fences and security bollards quickly indicate that this is no ordinary building.
It is obvious civilians are not allowed in certain parts of the headquarters, known as the ''secure site''.
Entry requires a hand scan identification, opening a glass door. That person can step inside a small space just snug enough for one person. The glass door then closes behind them, leaving the person inside a small capsule-like room.
If the person is authorised, a second glass door will open, allowing them entry into the main headquarters. Unauthorised people, even if they have passed the hand scan, can be held in the glass capsule for further investigation.
The site has been finished by contractors Praeco and handed to the Defence Department, ready to be transformed into the Headquarters Joint Operations Command. That requires fitting out the site with a comprehensive range of command, control, communications, computing and information systems.
When The Queanbeyan Age had a look at the site, all the high-tech security gave the impression that we had stepped onto the set of a James Bond film.
We could not help but wonder what else was going on behind those glass doors.
What is unclassified is that the headquarters, 17km east of Queanbeyan, will accommodate about 750 military and civilian Defence staff.
The headquarters will plan operations such as war fighting, United Nations operations, regional activities and support for disaster relief.
The gymnasium, which seems normal enough on first glance, can be transformed to house international military brass for joint operations or be used as an evacuation point.
Praeco project manager Peter Robertson said the project, on time and on budget, had been quickly transformed from a sheep paddock since last October.
Integrating staff from seven existing headquarters and agencies, the facility will bring around 600 Defence personnel and their families to the region.
Eden-Monaro MP and parliamentary secretary for defence support Mike Kelly said the Defence housing authority would acquire extra properties house families nearby.
He said the extra staff would have an impact on the community.
''Certainly there will be other support issues around the movement of these 600 additional Defence personnel to the region, bringing their families with them of course, needing to use local schools and businesses,'' Dr Kelly said.
''By introducing Defence families into the region it really strengthens the local community because wherever you go you'll find it's Defence people who get out and do other things.''
The headquarters will have a five-star Australian Building Greenhouse Rating and a self-sufficient water supply.
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