They're baaaack....
Thankfully, Blackwater won't be building their training camp in Potrero, but they're still working on establishing a presence in San Diego. According to today's UT, they will soon be operating on the grounds of a 61,600-square-foot former "trade school" near Brown Field, and between the San Ysidro and Otay ports of entry.
I'm sure we'll soon see what kind of training facility they're planning. It doesn't surprise me that they're still focused on the border region. They won't be in Iraq forever, and they want to diversify. There was some speculation that they'd decided to adjust their plans, and were looking at other locations, but no one knew for certain. They've been setting up business under their E&J Holdings division rather than the more well known Blackwater brand. This place is much smaller than what they were planning in Potrero, it's indoors, and it's in an industrial park, but the proximity of Brown Field and the Tijuana International Airport are probably a plus from their business perspective. Maybe they need a new home for the blimp.
I'll take a pass on any more speculation for moment, but I'll keep my eye on what's going on and I'll keep you in the loop!
Kelly Broughton, director of the city of San Diego's development services department, said Blackwater applied for a permit in February to make improvements to the building. The permit was approved March 19.
Broughton said the building was already permitted for use as a vocational trade school, and Blackwater's training activities would fall within that category.
On March 7, Blackwater dropped its plans to build a training facility for law enforcement and the military on an 824-acre site in the East County community of Potrero.
I'm sure we'll soon see what kind of training facility they're planning. It doesn't surprise me that they're still focused on the border region. They won't be in Iraq forever, and they want to diversify. There was some speculation that they'd decided to adjust their plans, and were looking at other locations, but no one knew for certain. They've been setting up business under their E&J Holdings division rather than the more well known Blackwater brand. This place is much smaller than what they were planning in Potrero, it's indoors, and it's in an industrial park, but the proximity of Brown Field and the Tijuana International Airport are probably a plus from their business perspective. Maybe they need a new home for the blimp.
I'll take a pass on any more speculation for moment, but I'll keep my eye on what's going on and I'll keep you in the loop!
Labels: Blackwater
posted by Terry at 9:06 PM
3 Comments:
If I were running Blackwater, my priorities would be:
1) Infiltrate the police and security power structure. This can be done by opening exactly such training facility. Rub elbows wth future cops and security people to create favorable relationships leading to more use of the facility and more contracts.
2) Create a sufficiently large economic presence, on which the community is dependent, that its social and political agenda will be played to by extant power centers - from the FOP to the growth association to the school systems.
They're doing the firest, and I'm sure they understand the significance of the second.
Navy personnel will be trained in two classrooms holding up to 24 students each.
When I read that in the fishwrap, I was like, Huh? Last time I checked San Diego was like one big Navy base.
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