http://www.krqe.com/dpp/on_assignment/remote-ranch-rounds-up-worldly-intrigu e
Remote ranch rounds up worldly intrigue Armed sentries protect Lincoln County operation Updated: Monday, 15 Nov 2010, 10:50 PM MST Published : Monday, 15 Nov 2010, 10:50 PM MST * Reporter: Dean Staley TINNIE, N.M. (KRQE) - Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett and the Lincoln County War. It was a deadly showdown that made its mark on Western legend and went down as one of the most violent periods in New Mexico history. But conflict in Lincoln County didn't end with Billy's death on July 14, 1881. It is a tradition that continues to this very day. "In many ways, we like to say the Lincoln County wars are still going on," Lincoln County Manager Tom Stewart said. Two years ago, a mysterious stranger with a shadowy past rode into the tiny community of Tinnie just southeast of the town of Lincoln and set up shop on 140 acres in Lincoln County's rugged outback. His name is John Allen, and he owns a military contracting company called Four Horsemen International. In the interim months, it's become clear to Allen's neighbors that while this is ranch country, his is no ordinary cattle ranch. There are the gun-toting sentries, the menacing guard posts, the towering security fence and the ominous warning signs. All these things point to one main conclusion: John Allen is not a man to be messed with. So who is this guy? Four Horsemen International, which has located its worldwide headquarters in Tinnie, is in the business of nation rebuilding. The company offers weapons training, convoy security and will even teach the locals how to be cops. Allen's client list reads like Hillary Clinton's address book including the CIA, the FBI, the Kurdistan prime minister's protection detail, the Royal Hong Kong Harbor Police, the SWAT team from Chihuahua, Mexico, the South Korean counterterrorist unit and the Royal Thai Marine Force. Company employees include former Special Forces personnel and decorated combat veterans from both the American and foreign militaries. Allen's staffers include Robert William Langdon, who was sentenced to death earlier this year in Afghanistan for killing an Afghan colleague while guarding a supply convoy for Four Horsemen. According to U.S. congressional documents, Four Horsemen has a $360 million stake in a controversial $2.2 billion U.S. government contract to provide security to convoys in Afghanistan. However, Four Horsemen is also one of eight private security contractors who were ordered to leave Afghanistan by the end of the year by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The president said his country's police and military should be the only armed groups operating in the country. And while Allen may be a fierce freedom fighter, at least one of his neighbors is not impressed. Virgil Beagles, a Roswell developer and contractor who owns the ranch next door, can tell you firsthand about his neighbor's gun-toting security force. "It blew my mind," Beagles said. "I mean, here we are in a very quiet area. Why do you need 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week, 365(-days-a-)year security?" The two neighbors are feuding because Beagles claims Allen is blocking access to his private property. Beagles has taken the issue to state District Court. But whatever's going on behind Allen's locked gates, the message is clear: It's none of your business. Well before Allen ever set foot in Lincoln County, the property that encompasses his ranch and Beagles' ranch was no ordinary cow and sheep pasture. As early as 2002, it was an anti-terrorist training camp run by a Canadian businessman named David Hudak, who ran afoul of the law and was deported back to Canada. A few years later, Allen showed up with plans to reopen the training camp to "battalion-sized conventional military units for predeployment training and weapons qualification," according to a study Allen commissioned two years ago. Those plans apparently fell through, however, when Allen and Beagles had a falling out. Now, Allen's plans for the property are anybody's guess. He declined to speak to News 13, but his lawyer, David Stevens of Ruidoso, said the only thing Allen plans to build on his property is a car garage and that the security is to protect his family while he's overseas. Still, even if Allen planned to reopen the anti-terrorist training camp, it's not against the law because the county has no zoning ordinances. As far as the county manager is concerned, it's the Lincoln County War all over again. "There develops animosities between neighbors all the time," Stewart said. "And it's just a matter of making sure they keep their weapons holstered." 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