Questions and Answers
about
The Proposed Eagle Training
Center in Venus
Q What is the Purpose
of the proposed Eagle
Training Center?
Q Is this about
National Security?
Q
Is this about training for first responders?
Q What physical
development does the developer propose?
Q
Where is Venus, Florida?
Q Does Eagle
National Security
Training Center
have firm contracts to fill this training center with students?
Q What is
unique about the environment in the area?
Q Who is Greg
Eagle?
Q Who would
operate the War Games Training
Center?
Q Who decides
if this project goes forward?
Q When is the
last chance to influence the rezoning decision?
Q Is Highlands County the first choice for projects like
this?
Q Why did Ocala reject a similar
project for this same developer?
Q Why did the Florida Department of Community Affairs reject this proposal?
Q
Why are nearby residents concerned?
Q Why are financial
conservatives concerned?
Q What
guarantee does Highlands County have that, if approved, the Venus project would not quickly cash out to Blackwater or even a
foreign group?
Q Why does the
proposed facility need such a long runway?
Q Will security
be a hidden cost for Highlands tax payers?
Q What profits
are estimated for the training center owners?
Q Will Highlands
County be known for
training of Mercenaries?
Q Will this
project teach illegal interrogation methods?
Q What is the Purpose
of the proposed Eagle
Training Center?
Their description of the proposed war games training
facility appears to describe what our military calls a MOUT (Military
Operations in Urban Terrain) training facility.
This would include live fire shooting ranges, shooting houses, sniper
towers and simulated urban environments where activities like gaining entry
with explosives could be taught day and night.
The difference between the Eagle
Training Center
and existing military MOUT facilities is that this would be owned by a private,
for-profit group not accountable to the federal government that could bring in
aspiring mercenaries with or without US citizenship.
Exactly what the Eagle
National Security
Training Center
proposes to do differs among their spokespeople. When
speaking to the media or elected officials, they talk about “first
responders.” The developers have not
provided evidence that they have funds to build this project. Their business plan directed to prospective
investors describes the market as military, para-military and vague other
“companies” including international groups.
The primary purpose, of course, is to make huge profits.
Q Is this about
National Security?
This is not about national security. It is about greed. If our nation really wants to turn over our
armed forces to private companies like this example, we should first consider
using one of the many surplus military bases.
Q
Is this about training for first responders?
If by “first responders” we are describing
fire fighters and police, the Venus site would appear to be overkill and
inappropriate. A fire fighter training
tower does not require 7700 acres and most large fire departments with the kind
of budgets that could support the Eagle Training profits have their own towers
on a few acres. The developer’s case for
fire fighting first responders is weakened by the fact that Florida already has 32 Fire Academies.
Police Departments need training, but something less than a
war games training site is needed and the justification for ruining a place
like Venus is hard to understand because the Federal
Law Enforcement
Training Center,
a part of the Federal Homelands Security Department operates several training
centers within the U.S.
and around the world.
Q What physical
development does the developer propose?
The developer, Greg Eagle, may have assumed that a small county Board
of Commissioners would be impressed in a positive way when he told a news
reporter that the total project cost would be $425 million. Whatever the real figure, the project
proposed would be immense:
The
footprint, 7700 acres, would be the size of our largest city, Sebring.
The
proposed 6000 foot long air strip for airplanes and gun ship helicopters would
be longer than the Sebring
Airport built to
allow WWII bombers to land.
100,000
square feet of classrooms and administrative buildings
40,000
square feet of military-style shoot-houses for explosive entry training
25
single family homes
Multi-family
apartments
two
250 tall training towers
Ranges,
shooting houses for up to 50 caliber, and
live fire courses
Q
Where is Venus, Florida?
Venus is about 20 miles NW of Lake Okeechobee at the
headwaters of Fisheating Creek. It is
valued by astronomy groups for a rare dark and clear sky in Florida.
The property is in Highlands County, but borders Glades, DeSoto and Charlotte counties.
Q Does Eagle
National Security
Training Center
have firm contracts to fill this training center with students?
No.
While they talk of government contracts, they have not
provided any evidence that they actually have contracts.
Q What is
unique about the environment in the area?
Fisheating Creek Area
To this day, Fisheating Creek remains one of the most
pristine waterways in Florida and crucial
habitat to endangered panther and many other threatened and endangered species,
such as the Florida
black bear and swallowtail kites. It is also the only part of the Everglades watershed that has not been altered or
destroyed by humankind. While billions
of dollars are anticipated to be spent on Everglades
restoration, now we have another threat to this creek.
Q Who is Greg
Eagle?
Following the “money trail” reveals two tracks of profit for
the developers. The first is the real
estate developer who could be developing a mall, plant or in our case, a
training center. We do not know the relationship
between the developer and the land owner, however, in a typical project, the
developer might obtain a low cost option, hire politically connected lawyers,
engineers and other to gain an entitlement to build.
Once the project zoning and permits are approved, the
developer might continue with construction or sell the land at a higher price
because of the building entitlement.
Greg Eagle of Cape
Coral is the developer. He had no prior contact with Highlands County and he has no experience in
managing live fire training programs. He recently donated $750,000 to Governor
Crist’s election campaign.
The second money track is the group who will build and
operate the training center.
Q Who would
operate the War Games Training
Center?
The name used for this project, Eagle
National Security
Training Center,
is not registered to do business in Florida
as this document being drafted. There is
a registered firm called Sunshine Security Management, LLC.
Seth Ellis is the spokesman for those proposing to operate
the facility. He is a CPA and the former president and CEO of ICx Digital
Infrared Imaging. According to published
reports, Greg Eagle said that he hired Sunshine Management, a company co-owned
by Ellis, Gen. Paul Cerjan and others, to plan, develop and operate the Venus
project.
Ellis also said that retired generals Jeff Boykin and Dobie MacArthur were
involved. Boykin was in the news before this retirement for his unwillingness
to respect differences in beliefs of certain religious faiths. Boykin
Former General Cerjan is linked to a corporation called L3
which was created by the now bankrupted Lehman Brothers. L-3 is trying to take over what were once
considered core government work such as intelligence. They provided interrogators to the now
disgraced Iraqi prison. In May 2008,
E-mud Alen Jan-baby sued L-3 and another firm, CACI, for allowing their
employees to abuse him physically and mentally at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Q Who decides
if this project goes forward?
The upcoming meetings are to create a new zoning category
for this project to allow the building of the Eagle
National Security
Training Center
in southwest Highlands
County.
Please contact the Highlands County Commissioners before
October 6:
Q When is the
last chance to influence the rezoning decision?
The critical moment is October 6, 9 A.M. at the
Highlands County Commissioners Meeting, at the Government Center,
600 S. Commerce Ave.,
Sebring, FL. The County Commission
intends to create a new zoning category to allow the building of this war games
training center. Please plan to attend
this important meeting. Whoever comes should plan to stay all day, as there
will be an agenda with many items on it, this being just one of them.
Q Is Highlands County the first choice for projects like
this?
To understand the disaster that is about to hit Highlands County, we need to first look at the big
picture.
It is one of the great ironies of our time that as America is
fighting war lords with private armies, we have seen a trend toward contracting
to private armed groups, the roles that were once controlled by our armed
forces. Many military leaders think we
have gone too far. With mercenaries paid
many times wages paid to our military personnel and very profitable contracts
given to Blackwater type firms; there was an effort to expand training sites
for these new businesses.
At the same time, following atrocity exposures, legal
charges and congressional hearings, Blackwater type organizations encountered
rejections of projects like our Eagle project.
Blackwater suffered a big set back recently when they were denied
rezoning in Potrero, San Diego County,
CA. They even gave up plans to expand to the Philippines and
began operating under new corporate names.
Developers sensed opportunities. These training centers became a version of a
toxic dump. If they could label them as “first
responders training” and link them to 9/11, they might find someplace that
would take them and they would make huge profits.
After more murders by Blackwater and other mercenaries were
uncovered, it was not as easy to fool local elected officials. It did not help for the scandals to expand
from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Guards provided by a U.S. private contractor to protect the U.S.
Embassy in Kabul
had been staging raucous, homoerotic parties where supervisors are subjecting
their subordinates to abuse and sexual humiliation.
Q Why did Ocala reject a similar
project for this same developer?
A few months ago, the same group behind the Highlands County
project proposed a live-fire training center in Marion County,
but the commissioners refused his request and voted to turn down the facility,
which would have a mile-long airstrip, rifle ranges, explosive storage, a
vehicle track and an indoor shooting range on 2,500 acres currently zoned for
agriculture use.
As in Highlands County,
developers did not provide Marion
County with details about
which agencies would train there, or why aircraft would be operating there.
Q Why did the Florida Department of Community
Affairs reject this project?
The Office of Comprehensive Planning, Department of
Community Affairs did not approve the plan submitted by Eagle because of:
“1. The Plan amendment is not consistent with the state
Comprehensive Plan.
2. The Plan amendment is not consistent with Chapter 9J-5,
FAC
3. The Plan amendment is not consistent with Chapter 163,
part II, FS
4. The plan amendment is not “in compliance” as defined in
Section 163.3184 (1) (b), FS”
State planner listed many reasons why this project, as proposed,
should not be approved. Unfortunately,
the Highlands Commissioners direct Highlands
County staff to find a
compromise. The stipulated agreement with DCA will also be voted on at the meeting of October 6.
Q
Why are nearby residents concerned?
Many nearby residents see this project as a threat to their
way of life. Their peace and quiet would
be interrupted by low flying planes and helicopter gun ships. Traffic and the development of businesses
catering to 1000 men would soon follow.
Residents are also concerned about the safety of their
families. While the developer’s lawyer
says residents should not worry about live-file with weapons up to 50 caliber,
he may not be aware that, given the shape of the site, there is no place on the
site where such powerful weapons could be fired without bullets leaving the
footprint of the site.
The “fire towers” described by the developers may actually
be sniper file training towers where live fire could be directed to parts of
the site. This could increase the risk.
Our commissioners appear ready to approve this project
without any detailed plans. For
example, in the Ocala
project that was rejected by their commissioners, they revealed that they would
have a place to store explosives. No
details about the standards for explosive bunkers were given to our
commissioners.
Q Why are financial
conservatives concerned?
A project this size could trigger urban sprawl and lead to demands
for more roads, schools and other county provided services which would have to be paid for by Highlands County Taxpayers.
Q Why are
environmental groups concerned?
Thanks to Save Our Creeks, Inc and others, 18000 acres were
preserved to protect a beautiful cypress-lined creek winding 52 miles from its
headwaters in Highlands County through Glades
County all the way to its mouth on Lake Okeechobee.
Now this natural wonder is at risk again.
To learn more about Fisheating Creek go to: www.saveourcreeks.org
This property also contains the headwaters of the Peace River, listed as one of the 10 top endangered rivers in the county.
Q Does Eagle
National Security
Training Center
have firm contracts to fill this training center with students?
No.
While they talk of government contracts, they have not
provided any evidence that they actually have contracts.
Q What guarantee does Highlands
have new jobs?
None.
Again, the developers
says one thing locally and another to their out of state investors. They speak
of many local jobs, but their business plan admits that the special skill
needed will not be found in our area; they promise to conduct a national
recruiting effort. Construction of
specialized buildings is likely to be award to firms outside the county. Purchase of volume supplies will come from wholesalers
on the coasts rather than from Highlands
businesses.
Q What
guarantee does Highlands have that, if approved, the Venus project would not quickly cash out to Blackwater or even a
foreign group?
None
Once the project is rezoned, the developers can sell it to
anyone including Blackwater.
Why does the
proposed facility need such a long runway?
This is not clear.
The developers may feel that they can get anything they ask of our
Commissioners.
The developer does not have permission from the FAA to build
their proposed 6000 foot runway.
Properly constructed, a runway of this size could land a huge C-17
Globemaster III that could leave a wake of noise pollution as it lands. (Photograph to right from Air Force public
domain website)
Q Will security
be a hidden cost for Highlands tax payers?
There is no agreement that the Highlands County Sheriff can
enter the site, but with that many people involved, it seems likely that
policing action will be needed. If bars
open off site, this would add to the problem.
Q What profits
are estimated for the training center owners?
Again, the facts provided to elected officials have not been
adequate. Their Business Plan estimates
a return on investment of 15%. Greg
Eagle was quoted in the press as estimating the investment at $450 million, a
figure much higher than provided Mr. Ellis.
At $450 million, the annual profit would be $67.5 million a year.
Q Will Highlands
County be known for
training of Mercenaries?
The developer was quoted in the press as saying that the Eagle Center
would not be training mercenaries, but their business plan appears to be modeled
after the Blackwater group that trains mercenaries, some of whom are now
charged with atrocities. Greg Eagle told
Reporter Gary Pinnell “It's not going to be Blackwater, or anything like
that. It's not going to be a shoot 'em
up situation," Eagle said. "There will be no mercenaries." In
fact, on page 41 of their business plan, they list Blackwater as a source in
revenue since various communities around the nation have rejected new
Blackwater training centers. For more, see:
Q Will this
project teach illegal interrogation methods?
There is no doubt that the developers propose to teach
interrogation methods if the center is constructed. It is mentioned in their
business plan in six places. As noted above, at least one of their team has
been in the business of training and providing interrogation personnel. However, they have not offered any
assurances that they would not teach the kind of illegal methods that now has
the C3 Corporation in court.
We must remember that this is a for-profit, private
project. Conspiring to torture has
landed people without government protection in prison. If this type of activity really represents
the values of Highlands
County, the Commissioners
should, as a minimum, get a legal ruling as to the exposure of the county for
damages should any graduates of the proposed center engage in wrong doing.
