Privateer Completes Menager’s Dam Security Assignment With Zero Losses

For immediate release

ALI CHUK, Tohono O’odham Nation — Privateer Security Forces completed its full-project security assignment for WCA Construction, LLC at Menager’s Dam with zero casualties, zero thefts, and zero security-related safety incidents.

The assignment supported the replacement of an aging dam immediately upstream of Ali Chuk, a community near the international border. The Bureau of Indian Affairs began the project after the original dam nearly overtopped during a 2018 tropical storm, exposing the need for stronger flood protection.

Privateer served as WCA’s security partner from mobilization through completion. Company records document several serious security incidents during the contract, all resolved without a casualty, theft, security-related safety incident, or interruption to the construction mission. Details that could identify personnel, expose site vulnerabilities, or compromise future operations remain confidential.

The completed security record

One assignment. Zero losses.

Privateer’s final record reflects successful risk management across the full construction period, not an absence of risk.

0Casualties

0Thefts

0Security-Related Safety Incidents

FullProject Coverage

Why the project mattered

A dam built to protect Ali Chuk

Menager’s Dam is immediately upstream of the Ali Chuk community near the international border. The Bureau of Indian Affairs says the dam was originally built for irrigation but now serves primarily as flood protection for the community downstream.

That protective role became urgent in 2018. Rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Rosa pushed the existing earthen dam close to overtopping. Residents were evacuated, volunteers helped reinforce the crest, and the event exposed the danger created by an aging structure above the community. The U.S. Geological Survey documented the flooding and evacuation, while Arizona Public Media reported on the residents displaced during stabilization work.

The replacement project demolished the older structure and constructed a new rockfill embankment dam and outlet works. Indian Affairs announced the groundbreaking and federal infrastructure investment in January 2025. Engineering firm RJH Consultants later reported that construction was complete and that the Bureau of Indian Affairs held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the site on March 10, 2026.

From mobilization to completion

Security from mobilization through completion

Federal award records identify WCA Construction as the prime construction contractor for the Menager’s Dam rehabilitation. Privateer worked for WCA and maintained the project’s private security presence through the full construction period.

Remote heavy construction requires a security plan that evolves with the job. Equipment, materials, access routes, work areas, personnel, and hazards change as construction advances, while distance can slow ordinary support. Effective protection in that environment depends on patience, sound judgment, and knowledge of the surrounding community.

Privateer combined early observation, clear communication, de-escalation, accurate documentation, and prompt coordination with the proper authorities. Direct working relationships with the Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection supported the security mission while preserving the distinct role and authority of each organization.

U.S.-Mexico border barrier and mountains at the Menager’s Dam project site — View from the Menager’s Dam project site along the U.S.-Mexico border barrier, illustrating the security operation’s immediate proximity to the international boundary.

Border partnership

Daily coordination with U.S. Border Patrol

The Menager’s Dam assignment covered a large, remote area in an active border corridor. Securing WCA’s construction site therefore required more than protecting equipment after work hours. Privateer’s officers also needed a clear relationship with the federal personnel responsible for the surrounding border environment.

That relationship began before mobilization. In December 2024, WCA management asked Privateer to establish formal contact with the U.S. Border Patrol Tribal Liaison before equipment began arriving in January 2025. Privateer’s preliminary site assessment had already shown that the project’s size, terrain, and surrounding movement made agency coordination essential.

Once the project was active, Privateer worked closely—often daily—with U.S. Border Patrol personnel operating under U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officers maintained situational awareness across the extensive project acreage, communicated relevant observations, reduced the chance that construction or security activity would be misunderstood, and helped protect a critical worksite immediately adjoining the international border.

That coordination was tested when Privateer officers located a group of 11 unauthorized entrants moving through the controlled project property. Officers tracked the group’s movement and relayed information to CBP. Border Patrol agents arrived quickly and made all 11 arrests; Privateer personnel did not detain or arrest anyone.

Throughout the assignment, the roles remained clear. Privateer protected WCA’s people, property, and assets and shared relevant observations. CBP and the U.S. Border Patrol retained all federal law-enforcement and immigration authority.

A historic partnership

Trust, responsibility, and a first on Nation land

The assignment brought a non-tribally owned Arizona security company into work on Nation land—an uncommon partnership that depended on trust, respect, and accountability. To Privateer’s knowledge, the company was among the earliest outside private security teams to serve a project in the Ali Chuk area.

The contract also marked what Privateer’s company records identify as a first: Privateer became the first private security company authorized to carry AR-15-platform rifles while working on the Tohono O’odham Nation. The authorization reflected the project’s risk profile but did not confer law-enforcement status or expand Privateer’s authority beyond its security role.

Privateer also received site-specific federal authorization to use red-and-blue emergency warning lights within the Menager’s Dam project site. That authority was written into the formal Site Security Plan and approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The lights supported identification, coordination, and safe response across the remote construction property; the authorization did not create general police powers or unrestricted authority to use emergency lights away from the site.

Those authorizations operated within a defined private-security role. Privateer coordinated directly with TOPD and CBP, respected each agency’s authority, and worked as a guest and partner on Nation land.

Ali Chuk

The relationship was part of the security plan

Privateer developed a strong relationship with the people of Ali Chuk over the life of the project. Officers earned that relationship by showing up consistently, listening, treating residents with respect, and taking local concerns seriously. The community was not simply adjacent to the work; it was the community the completed dam was built to protect.

That familiarity also strengthened site security. Consistent communication helped officers understand ordinary activity around the project, identify issues that required attention, and resolve concerns without unnecessary escalation.

The relationship is an important part of the completed contract. Privateer left the project with WCA’s work protected, the security record intact, and genuine respect for the people of Ali Chuk and the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Related operational reports

Additional border-region operations

The Menager’s Dam contract is one part of Privateer’s work in the remote border region. A new operational report examines the night an environmental survey assignment changed without warning; a separate report on the suspected cartel-scout operation remains in development.

Biologists moved to safety after gunfire

When multiple shots sounded near the dam, a Privateer officer moved between the unknown threat and WestLand Resources biologists and survey personnel, then coordinated a protected withdrawal without injury. Read the full operational report.

Cartel scout detection and CBP mountaintop takedown

Over several days, Privateer personnel observed a suspected cartel scout and relayed their observations to CBP. Company records identify that reporting as the beginning of an intelligence chain associated with a Tucson Sector operation later covered by Arizona’s Family. The outlet reported that Border Patrol’s Special Operations Detachment used a helicopter to locate and destroy a cartel scouting site west of Ajo on May 15, 2025, and arrested two men.

Privateer field footage from the Menager’s Dam assignment. A distant person moves along the monitored ridge, most clearly near the end of the clip. The video alone does not establish identity or intent; the suspected-scout assessment developed from repeated observations and information shared with CBP.

According to Privateer’s operational record, the intelligence chain later extended to an enforcement action on the Mexican side, where a firefight at a mountain cave was followed by the recovery of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), other grenades, and machine guns. Privateer plans to publish a separate account of that phase after completing a review of the supporting materials that can be released safely.

The separate report will identify which details come from Privateer’s firsthand observations and which come from independently reported agency outcomes. Personnel identities, surveillance tactics, and sensitive locations will remain confidential.

Public record & further reading

Project sources

The public sources below document the project, its public-safety purpose, WCA Construction’s federal award, the 2018 emergency, project completion, the relevant public-safety agencies, and the reported 2025 removal of a cartel scouting site. Privateer’s company records, pre-mobilization correspondence, and BIA-approved Site Security Plan document its performance and agency coordination.

Zero Losses at Menager’s Dam