The grizzled military veterans who comprise Arizona Border Recon describe the land along the border with Mexico as "America's own little war zone." And so they patrol it day and night in tactical gear, keeping vigilant watch for terrorists, traffickers, and illegal immigrants.

Johnny Milano spent four days with the group, which considers itself an "intelligence-gathering organization," for his series In the Hills of Pima. The photographer documented AZBR while on assignment for Al Jezeera in October, 2014, and hoped to gain a better understanding of the group's mindset. "The driving force for many of these men is a continuation of the oath they took in the military," Milano says. "The defense of their country and family seems to be first and foremost."

AZBR is one of the armed citizen groups that has taken to patrolling the wilds of Arizona and elsewhere to aid the US Border Patrol. Some have called them patriots defending the country, but others have called them vigilantes or worse. The FBI recently arrested three members of the Arizona Special Operations Group, another armed citizen group, in a sting to steal cocaine from what they thought was a cartel.