Protest against Blackwater in Portrero, October 2008. (Photo by Bob Davis.)
Editor: The good folks of Potrero successfully blocked a BlackWater private military training facility a few years back out in their neck of the woods. (See this and this.) Plus Blackwater attempted to open other facilities closer to the border (go here and here and here.) However, apparently, former BlackWater VP Brian Bonfiglio has done an end run, and started a new business, signed a contract with Los Coyotes Indian Reservation, and has opened Eagle Rock Training Center out on the res near Warner Springs. Local residents are upset and complain about the 2 a.m. helicopter noise, among other things. The following article includes this tidbit:
Los Coyotes officials said the Eagle Rock project is private tribal business. … The Bureau of Indian Affairs is supposed to review land leases between a tribe and a private enterprise. Robert Eben, superintendent for the Southern California Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, said two weeks ago that he was unaware of the training center. Since then, he has not responded to phone calls seeking comment.
Image from Eagle Rock promo video.
Here is the U-T article:
Marines, SEALs confirm training on Indian reservation
By J. Harry Jones / SignOnSanDiego / April 22, 2011
The marketing video describes a range of features at the training center, including a live-fire complex as shown in this computerized rendering.
Marine and Navy special-operations forces have trained at a privately run camp made unusual because of its location — on the remote Los Coyotes Indian Reservation near Warner Springs — and the Navy SEALs in Coronado plan to use the site soon for a new survival-training course.
The facility, called the Eagle Rock Training Center, has at least two firing ranges, a helipad and shipping containers being turned into a mock Afghan village, according to two men at the site on April 6.
For the remainder of this article and the promo video, please go here.
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