Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth plans to reopen a U.S. Cold War-era military “jungle school” in Panama. Hegseth announced re-opening the jungle school while visiting U.S. troops stationed in Panama. The jungle school, which was built near Fort Sherman in Panama, was closed down shortly after the Cold War. The course was first used during WWI to train soldiers for “jungle warfare” and saw most of its use during the Vietnam War. Watch the moment Hegseth made the announcement here: NOW: @SecDef @PeteHegseth addresses U.S. troops at the Pier on the Panama Canal, tells them that he intends to reopen parts of the JOTC aka “Jungle school” which closed in 1999. pic.twitter.com/SnOCv09Qzz — Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) April 8, 2025 Check out what The National Pulse reported: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said he intends to partially reopen the “Jungle School,” where up to 9,000 troops a year trained in jungle warfare from the 1950s to 1999 in the former Panama Canal Zone. Secretary Hegseth made the announcement to U.S. troops in Panama amid an ongoing trip to the Central American country, where he will attend the Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC).Thanking the troops for their service, Hegseth said, “We will have your back; President Trump has asked me to share that with all the groups of troops I talk to,” stressing the importance of the military’s “warrior ethos” to the administration and its determination to rebuild the military. “I should never put you in a fair fight. My job is to put you in a fight where you are overwhelming… First of all, hopefully, deterring the enemy, [but] if it comes to conflict, overwhelmingly closing with and destroying the enemy,” said Hegseth, himself a decorated former infantry officer. The Defense Secretary is joined on his Panama trip by Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, providing exclusive coverage and commentary to Pulse+ members as the trip unfolds.The Panama Canal Zone was under U.S. sovereignty in perpetuity until its surrender to Panama in 1979 under the late Democratic President Jimmy Carter. The canal was largely American-built and funded, and incumbent President Donald J. Trump has expressed a desire to regain control over it, lamenting its handover as one of his predecessors’ worst-ever deals.“The purpose of our deal [with Panama] and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated,” he said during his inaugural address, noting Chinese involvement in the canal now and vowing, “We’re taking it back.” NEW @thenatpulse: EXC: SecDef Hegseth Announces Plans to Reopen Elite, Cold War-Era Military ‘Jungle School’ in Panama. PULSE POINTS:What Happened: Defense S…… READ ON:https://t.co/VOr2XXA6pB — Raheem. (@RaheemKassam) April 8, 2025 Here’s a history of Fort Sherman’s jungle course, per War History: After the US Army Coast Artillery Corps was decommissioned, the area around Fort Sherman was assigned to the US Army South Jungle Operations Training Center. The area along the Panama Canal had been used on and off since World War I to train soldiers in jungle warfare, but it wasn’t until the Korean War that the Army chose to focus on the JOTC. The JOTC hosted troops from the US and allied Central American armies, and had an annual enrolment of 9,000 personnel. The government allocated it an annual budget of $4 million, money which came in handy at the outbreak of the Vietnam War, as the terrain in Panama was similar to that in Vietnam. In 1976, the Army realized it would be better to train whole battalions, rather than individual troops, as members could learn to coordinate group missions in difficult terrain. The JOTC also taught a 10-day Air Crew Survival Course and a four-week Engineer Jungle Warfare Course. Those who attended the JOTC were forced to think through situations outside of their previous training, and the techniques learned were difficult to replicate in other environments. Upon completion, each soldier was awarded the Jungle Expert Patch. 46 years ago, almost exactly, I was doing this – deploying in zodiac rafts off a Mike boat on the Chagres River in the Canal Zone, Panama, to execute an amphibious raid during our Jungle School there. This is the very first picture I have ever seen of that operation being done,… pic.twitter.com/ruYJPTwbyW — Paramedic Firefighter, aka Rev. John McKay, AEMT-P (@ParamedicVet) November 25, 2024