Fort Bliss blacklists some El Paso businesses, declares them off-limits for soldiers
EL PASO, Texas -- Fort Bliss says it is now taking steps to keep their soldiers safe. As part of Operation Ironclad, military officials tell ABC-7 they have developed a list of El Paso businesses that have been blacklisted.
Operation Ironclad is an installation-wide initiative to curb, dangerous behavior. Fort Bliss made the decision to adopt it after a number of incidents involving Army personnel.
“Either incidents where our folks have been injured or just high call areas during those midnight hours collectively, young drinking any kind, it all adds up together for an unsafe environment,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allie Payne, a spokeswoman for Fort Bliss.
Earlier this year there was a homicide on the Cincinnati entertainment district involving a Fort Bliss soldier. The shooting happened back in February on the 2700 block of N. Stanton Street.
"When you think about late hours, you think about being 21. There's not too many folks that have reasons that they shouldn't go out and have a good time, but we want them to do that safely and most importantly, we don't want them to hurt other folks. So that is the whole purpose behind this, how can we educate them into areas that might be dangerous for them," Payne explained.
Fort Bliss currently has eight businesses that are off limits to their personnel, one of them is on Cincinnati Avenue. The lone bar in that district blacklisted by the military is 'Rockin' Cigar Bar and Grill. The other businesses are Dreams Cabaret, Jaguars, Back Nine, Cool Arrows, Herb N Legends, Best Food Mart, and the Bo-De-Gas Graff Head Shop.
The military said it has taken a proactive approach to curb violence involving its members by expanding the list. Last quarter, there were only four blacklisted businesses listed across the city; now that list has grown to eight.
The decision to blacklist a business is handled by the Armed Forces Disciplinary Control Board, in cooperation with local law enforcement. This group meets quarterly and updates their list as needed.
