Space Force Guardians Conquer Army’s Green Hell in Historic Panama First

Two Space Force officers have become the first guardians to graduate from the U.S. Army’s Jungle Operations Training Course-Panama, expanding the service’s field credentials far beyond its orbital mission.

Maj. Alyson Gleason and Capt. Stephen Brown completed the demanding jungle warfare program on Sept. 25.

The course lasted 18 days and brought the guardians together with other U.S. and Panamanian troops at Panama’s Aeronaval Base Cristóbal Colón. Participants received instruction in jungle combat tactics, navigation, survival and foraging.

Training also covered ambushes, waterborne missions, machete use and tactics conducted by small units. The final event, called the “Green Mile,” tested participants across the range of skills taught during the course.

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Gleason said the opportunity offered a challenge that Space Force officers do not regularly encounter.

She also welcomed the chance to train alongside the Army and Panamanian partners.

“I’m always interested in challenging myself and the jungle is a beast that we don’t get to tackle very often as Space Force Officers,” Gleason said in a news release.

“I saw the opportunity, I wanted the chance to work with the Army and the Panamanian partners down here, and I thought this would be a unique place to challenge myself.”

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Although the Space Force concentrates on activity in orbit, its guardians remain firmly on the ground.

Service members operate satellites while also deploying to field environments where they direct communications systems and equipment such as jammers.

Gleason is assigned to United States Space Force Headquarters. Brown serves with the 392nd Combat Training Squadron at Schriever Space Force Base in Colorado, and both officers are now the first guardians to earn the Jungle tab.

By the middle of August, more than 200 U.S. troops and dozens of Panamanian service members had graduated from the course.

More than two thirds of the American graduates came from the Army, while Marines and airmen made up the remainder, according to a U.S. Southern Command spokesperson.

The first airman completed the course in May. In July, the Army approved the Jungle tab as an official skill badge that soldiers may wear across the service.

Brown described the experience as an opportunity worth taking when it became available. “I feel grateful for coming here to the jungle, because I try to go through every experience I can,” said Brown.

“Not everybody is going to get the opportunity, so when that door opens I think you should always take it.” Brown and Gleason did exactly that, completing a course long known by the nickname “Green Hell.”

Image Credit: DoW

The jungle school previously operated for years at Fort Sherman before the base closed and was transferred to Panama.

U.S. troops subsequently conducted jungle training in Hawaii, but the Army restarted the Panama center last year through a joint effort with the Panamanian government.

The renewed attention to jungle operations came as the U.S. military shifted resources, personnel and attention toward Latin America. Last year, the military increased its forces in the Caribbean, reopened old bases and revived the jungle course.

The military also launched Operation Southern Spear, a campaign targeting and destroying several small boats that the Pentagon claims were transporting drugs. In January, the United States launched a raid to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

This summer, Southern Command established Joint Task Force-Western Hemisphere as the successor to Southern Spear.

Army Special Forces, Marines and at least two Navy warships are carrying out operations in and around South American countries under the task force.

Space Force personnel began operating within Southern Command’s area of operations in December, ahead of the Venezuela raid.

In January, the service formally established a component under the command following the involvement of guardians in the operation in Caracas.

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