Anti-war activists, locals are wary about military contractor's new training site

'America's private army' under fire for Illinois facility

By E.A. Torriero Tribune staff reporter
July 23, 2007
MT. CARROLL, Ill. - Strangers rarely venture onto the twisting gravel roads in this corner of the state, and those who do sometimes get lost amid the rolling hills.

So it came as a surprise to many locals when the expert marksmen of Blackwater USA -- a controversial military contractor that provides armed security guards in the Iraq war -- took over an 80-acre rifle range and opened up a new training center this past spring. Blackwater North, as the North Carolina-based firm calls its new site, is designed primarily as a tactical training ground for domestic law enforcement and contractors, not for security missions to Iraq or Afghanistan, Blackwater officials said. Using civilians schooled in military warfare, the site offers training in weaponry, hostage dealings and terror reaction.

Still, the sudden appearance of Blackwater is attracting criticism and questions from miles around.Wary residents fret about noise, expansion and the more distant possibility that low-paid local police might end up working lucrative jobs for Blackwater overseas.
Meanwhile, peace groups from as far as Chicago, 150 miles to the east, plan to stage a major demonstration here next month protesting "America's private army."
"We're tucked away here in a no man's land, and to have Blackwater come in is quite unsettling," said Conrad Iandola (the name as published has been corrected here and in subsequent references in this text) , a neighboring landowner. "Most people have farms and homes. That's it. Now we have Blackwater here and we don't know what they will attract."

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