Panama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 19 of 24 · 11 min

Green Hell Reopens: US Troops Return to Panama's Jungle School

The U.S. closed its jungle-warfare school at Fort Sherman in 1999, and American troops returned to it under an April 2025 memorandum. By summer 2026 the Army was awarding a service-wide tab for the course. The episode describes what the school taught and why its loss mattered, and asks whether the school is the mission or the reason for everything that arrived with it.

Who's who

Pete Hegseth+9 more episodesU.S. Secretary of Defense; signed the April 2025 memorandum
Frank Ábrego+2 more episodesPanama's Minister of Public Security; Panamanian signatory
Keith W. BenedictCommander of Army Security Cooperation Group-South

Where it happens

Fort Sherman, Panama+1 more episodeFormer U.S. post and site of the jungle school, about 23,100 acres
Colón Province, PanamaBase became Base Aeronaval Cristóbal Colón in 1999
Schofield Barracks, HawaiiArmy's twelve-day jungle course after 1999
Camp Gonsalves, OkinawaMarine Corps jungle school

Timeline

1999Fort Sherman handed to Panama; last jungle-school rotation in March
April 9, 2025Hegseth and Ábrego sign a security cooperation memorandum
April 16, 2025Sal de las Redes files a constitutional challenge
August 16-22, 2025Pilot course graduates 23 students
January 27, 2026Army Security Cooperation Group-South takes the school
July 22, 2026Memorandum authorizes an Army-wide jungle tab

Still debated

Sources conflict on when the jungle school was founded (1951 in reference sources) and on the handover date in 1999. The memorandum's full text could not be obtained, headcounts differ by source, and total U.S. personnel in Panama has never been published.

jungle school us military fort sherman panama security cooperation

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