Thread: Fwd: Blackwater opens San Diego training center

By Allison Hoffman
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:59 a.m. June 6, 2008

SAN DIEGO – A new counterterrorism training facility operated by
military security contractor Blackwater Worldwide echoed with the
grunts of Navy sailors, a day after a federal judge ordered the city
to let classes begin.

The 24 trainees batted and punched each other Thursday as they learned
basic strike tactics in a corner of the 61,000-square-foot converted
warehouse in an industrial area near the U.S.-Mexico border.

For the next three weeks, they'll practice shooting inside a 25-yard
indoor firing range and learn to wear sidearms safely while wriggling
through ship hatches and up narrow ladders installed in white metal
cargo containers stacked along one wall of the building to simulate a
ship. Trainers from Blackwater will quiz them on distinguishing small
boats carrying cargo from those carrying bombs.

The company sued last month because city officials refused to issue
final occupancy documents without a vote by the planning commission,
after building inspectors had already signed off on the necessary
permits. Blackwater said it faced a Navy contract deadline and accused
the city of caving to political pressure.

The company has been targeted by anti-war activists and Rep. Bob
Filner, D-Calif., who opposed its proposed training camp for law
enforcement in a remote mountain community east of San Diego. That
project was dropped after firing ranges failed to satisfy noise
restrictions, but Filner and others have raised concerns that
Blackwater is simply seeking a foothold near the border that could
serve as a base for providing private migrant or drug interdiction
services to federal agencies.

Blackwater insists the warehouse was built to provide the Navy's "ship
reaction force basic" training course as part of a $400 million
contract. The program is part of an initiative to train sailors in
counterterrorist defense tactics after the 2000 bombing of the USS
Cole in a Yemeni port.

"This facility supports our oldest customer," said company Vice
President Brian Bonfiglio, referring to the military.

Blackwater trains sailors from East Coast bases at its headquarters in
Moyock, N.C., where it offers an advanced course using model ships
floating in a private lake. It developed the California warehouse to
offer the introductory program to sailors from San Diego, Guam, Japan
and other Pacific bases.

Bonfiglio acknowledged that Blackwater would gladly host other
agencies, including the Border Patrol or Coast Guard, at the
warehouse, located in an unmarked building within sight of the border
fence and the Tijuana airport control tower beyond.

"If we had a bunch of Border Patrol vehicles parked outside, they'd
accuse us of trying to take over the border," he said, only
half-joking. "But I'd open up our doors to any law enforcement that
needed training, if I could do it."

The company has been expanding its domestic law enforcement training
business, opening an 80-acre police training center in Mount Carroll,
Ill., in 2007 to complement its 7,000-acre complex in North Carolina.

At the same time, Blackwater, the largest private security firm in
Iraq, has come under increased scrutiny for its work abroad. Its
guards are under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington
for their involvement in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians.
The company is also under investigation for possible weapons
smuggling, allegations Blackwater denies.

Democratic activist Raymond Lutz said those inquiries can't be ignored
when it comes to Blackwater's domestic operations.

"To put training in the hands of private profiteers means that you're
giving up your ability to oversee what they're doing and when you give
it up you lose control," Lutz said. "Why doesn't the Navy train its
own people?"

Bonfiglio said his five trainers offer students a depth of
counterterrorism experience the Navy couldn't match without pulling
its own experts from other duties.

"What we do overseas needs to be separated from what we do in the
United States," he said. "Here we put all of our effort into
developing training facilities that are unmatched."

The pride of the facility is the mock warship area, where shipping
containers are outfitted with red lights to simulate an onboard
emergency and speakers blare clanking background noise during exercises.

On Thursday, workers were reinforcing a maze of wooden walls appended
to the cargo containers at the request of city inspectors, who are
still reviewing Blackwater's application to use the simulated ship
area under an amusement-park ride permit, Bonfiglio said.

City lawyers said the company misled inspectors by applying for
permits piecemeal and under the names of affiliated companies instead
of making a single application to open a training center with
firearms. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff ruled Wednesday that the
company did not need to seek special approval because the area is
already zoned for vocational school use.

The city has not said whether it will appeal.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metr ... fight.html

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