HOMELAND INSECURITY

Between Hemet and Perris, nestled at the base of the Lakeview Mountains, lies the rural community of Homeland. Here, just off Highway 74 and the 215 Freeway in southeast Riverside County, sits —according to John Choate—the perfect training ground for soldiers and cops.

The 35-year-old former U.S. Navy SEAL runs the “The Ranch” here, a privately-run, 194-acre facility that offers training for military, public safety and security personnel. The size and landscape—majestic mountainsides and dusty desert terrain—make it perfect for combat training in an Afghanistan-like environment.

But it’s here where unforeseen battle lines are being drawn.

In one camp are Choate and his supporters who say The Ranch will serve as home base for the next generation of well-trained soldiers. In the other are a group of ardent protesters who say the site will be ground zero for the type of private outfit that made Blackwater the poster child for out-of-control mercenaries—and question why the county was so quick to give the project a go.

Fittingly, Choate’s company, Procinctu Group, Inc., takes its name from a Latin expression: prepare for battle.

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Choate, a Southern California native, is proud of his military service. His most recent platoon was sent to Afghanistan in April, 2002, he says. Between 2004 and 2006, Choate was a contract instructor for West Coast SEAL teams.

Established in 2005, Procinctu provides military personnel and law enforcement officers with specialized training. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors approved the Ranch project in January 2008 and, according to Choate, began operating a month later. Currently, there are only a few buildings on the property and only about 596 members of law enforcement and the military have been trained so far, he says.

However, future plans for the site include three administrative office buildings, several dorms, a covered pool and gymnasium, classrooms, two to three indoor firing ranges, a simulated mock town and a skid pad/driving track.

He stresses that firefighters, ambulance drivers, motorcycle police officers and even armored car drivers would benefit from training on a driving track. “These people can spend up to 90 percent of their time behind a vehicle, risking their lives for the public,” he says. “People don’t realize how dangerous a job it is to be an armored car driver, for instance.”

Four properties border Choate’s facility and each of his neighbors support The Ranch, Choate says. He acknowledges the opposition but Choate insists there’s no reason for controversy. 

“As far as the very small contingent of opponents, they have to try to propagate the word out there that my facility is not a done deal, but the truth of the matter is that it has already been approved,” he says.

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But Ann Weston, who lives near The Ranch, takes issue with the county’s approval of the center and disputes local officials classifying The Ranch as an “educational institution” when they approved its permit. Further, her camp alleges ties to Blackwater USA—the private military contractor that came under fire for the killing of Iraqi civilians.

Weston, who lives about 10 miles from Choate’s property, founded the organization Citizens Against Private Armies (C.A.P.A.) in conjunction with Ray Lutz, an avid Blackwater opponent who was successful in fighting that company’s plans to create a West Coast training center in east San Diego County.

“It is apparent to me that private armies are a threat to our democracy, and they have been used time and time again throughout history,” Weston says.

The retired school teacher has devoted countless hours of research, scouring public records, attending county meetings and helping to organize a March 17 protest outside of a supervisors meeting—all in an effort to get The Ranch’s permit revoked. The facility, the group says, “does not allow citizens’ oversight, transparency or accountability.”

How did The Ranch get its permit granted when the project’s initial description failed to mention outdoor live fire, Weston asks. Why was it approved when The Ranch doesn’t jive with the state Education Code’s definition of an “educational institution?”

“It’s all there for people to see for themselves in the public records,” she notes.

At press time, Riverside County officials, including supervisors Bob Buster and Marion Ashley, did not respond to numerous phone and email requests for interviews for this story.

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Choate defends the project and isn’t afraid to voice his rebuttal.

Weston and her camp dispute The Ranch’s status as an “educational institution” “merely because it doesn’t look like a typical school, and that is myopic and naïve,” he says.

“The point is, we are an educational institution, because we are instructing various training items that are part and parcel of law enforcement, military and security vocations, case closed.”

How about the live fire?

The use of live firearms may not have been referenced in the initial project description “because it was exactly that, an initial description,” Choate says. “It was made over four years ago.”

Choate says his proposed shooting ranges were scrutinized and subject to oversight by the county. “In fact, if we hadn’t introduced shooting ranges into our plans, we probably would have been approved as early as 2007,” he says.

The ranges were described as early as July 26, 2006, a year and a half prior to a public hearing, Choate says.

But Weston and others, like Temecula-based writer Paul Jacobs, insist that something is fishy. Case in point: The Ranch project was fast tracked by the county, a provision speeds up the entire development process.

“It’s pretty mind boggling when they fast track something that significant, without any public review or scrutiny,” Jacobs says.

The county’s Planning Department had initially denied Procinctu’s June 2006 application to fast track the ranch. Despite this, Supervisor Ashley submitted a letter to his fellow supervisors in March 2007 recommending fast track approval.

Choate called this a “misunderstanding” over what could and could not actually be granted fast track approvals. He further defended the speeding up by noting that The Ranch will create jobs and bring in revenue for the county.

Yet, the controversy doesn’t die here.

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Weston and others allege a connection between Procinctu and Blackwater.

She cites 2006 proprietary papers in the public record as her smoking gun, papers that show several Procinctu individuals had prior Blackwater experience.

“Mr. Choate says he has no association with Blackwater,” Weston says. “But they are some of his closest, everyday associates. This shows a quarter of his staff was Blackwater.”

Not so fast, says the ex-Navy SEAL.

The document Weston cites is nothing more than a sample resume submitted early on in the process with the county, Choate says. And only one of his employees had previous experience with Blackwater—and shouldn’t be made out to be guilty merely by association, he maintains.

“I want to be clear: We have no connection with Blackwater or any of its subsidiaries whatsoever period,” he says.

Choate’s critics also decry the live fire exercises proposed for The Ranch, and the possibility of noise pollution and the environmental damage from bullets leaking lead and chemicals into the ground.

Choate insists that Weston misleads people to believe that the facility will have outdoor firing ranges. Not so, since the county does not permit them.

“However, outdoor firing is permitted under the conditions of approval, but we’re only allowed to shoot outside [a total of] five hours per year,” Choate concedes.

The former military man highlights safeguards, such as staffers, signs and (literal) red flags, that warn when rounds are flying.

“This project spent three-and-a-half years in the planning process,” he says. “Every single part of it was checked and re-checked again to be sure that it either met or exceeded all County Planning Department requirements.”

But the battle continues.

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Weston and Lutz last month accused supervisors of violating the Brown act on March 17 when officials discussed Choate’s project. The act requires local officials to conduct official business and meet in ways that are open for public attendance and participation.

“I was present at that meeting,” Lutz says. “During the public comment section, every person against the project was allowed to speak for three minutes. Then after they were done, the board of supervisors let John Choate speak for a whopping 22 minutes then they discussed it among themselves for another eight minutes.”

Lutz said he then approached the podium to interrupt the meeting and announce a Brown Act violation, but was threatened with arrest.

“This entire episode certainly needs to be exposed for what it was: a violation of the law,” he says.

Choate dismisses such claims.

“I had no intention of speaking at this meeting,” he says. “But, I was spotted in the audience and asked by the supervisors to come forth and respond to any or all of the allegations.”

Choate concedes public comments are limited to three minutes but said it was up to supervisors’ discretion to allow more speaking time.

But any allegations of Brown Act violations are moot, the former soldier says. No decision was made and no action taken during the meeting, only a discussion about The Ranch’s already-finalized approvals and how Weston’s efforts to give the project a second look had run their course, Choate says.

But Weston isn’t giving up the fight. Her efforts were joined by the Inland Empire chapter of Veterans For Peace.

“Other chapters of Veterans for Peace have also recognized the danger of for-profit warfare training and the risk that these paramilitary groups will morph into Blackwater-like mercenary armies that will threaten our democracy,” Weston says in a press release.

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In another twist in this story, Tom Swann, president of the IE Veterans for Peace and a 51-year-old former Marine, has since retracted his support for Weston and C.A.P.A.

      While he supports some of Weston’s anti-private army aims—“I too am against the atrocities committed by Blackwater”—Swann disputes her analysis of Procinctu. He’s even written a letter of apology to Supervisor Roy Wilson for his initial comments about The Ranch, a letter that was a “lengthy analysis of Ann Weston’s allegations to show where she has either wrong information, misinterpreted zoning policies or used poor logic to reach her conclusions.”

     Swann, an infantry sergeant from 1976 to 1980, says he did his own research and listened to Choate’s side of the story.

“To me, it seems like Ann’s group has made up their minds to oppose contractors training our military and she rejects any new information or another view,” he says. “They criticized me for listening to other people.”

Swann speculates that Weston and C.A.P.A. are unaware the U.S. military has a long history of using private contractors.

“I think most people would be opposed to Blackwater because we all know some of their employees committed crimes in Iraq,” he says. “But what people don’t understand is that contractors have been helping since the days of George Washington and Valley Forge. Most of the contractors who work for the Department of Defense are good people, but of course I’m against Blackwater and other so-called private mercenary armies.”

Now, the veteran hopes he can broker a truce between the warring factions.

“We’re a peace group and ultimately, even though we support this project, we want peace between John Choate and Ann Weston.”