BASES -- Summary                                                                             [p4 of 14]

Panama Air Depot (PAD Area) (1931-1979/1982) (Army/Pacific side)

Panama Air Depot was initially developed by the Panama Canal Company in 1931 as an industrial area of automotive repair shops and garage, the district quartermaster's shops, the constructing quartermaster shops, and the municipal division shops and storage. The Panama Air Depot was initially referred to as the 'Curundu project' and years later commonly referred to as the PAD Area. By 1939, the area had been reassigned to the jurisdiction of Albrook Air Field (the east side of the Albrook reservation) held by the Army. In later years, the area supported the Defense Mapping Agency's Inter-American Geodetic Survey and a number of tenant activities which used the PAD warehouse facilities -- including in later years the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) warehouse and Army Medical Department Activity (MEDDAC). The Panama Air Depot was transferred to Panama in stages from October 1979 through 1982, in compliance with the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977.

FORT SHERMAN (1914-1999) (23,100 acres--mostly jungle training areas/ Army/Atlantic side)

Fort Sherman, located at Toro Point between Limon Bay and the Chagres River at the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal, was built in 1911-1914 as part of the coastal defense fortification complex for defense of the Panama Canal.  It was one of the first three installations planned for the harbor defense of the Panama Canal.  Four Coast Artillery batteries were constructed on Fort Sherman equipped with 14-inch and six-inch guns, and the first coast artillery battery unit was assigned there in 1914.  Fort Sherman was also the site of the first U.S. Army Air Services facility in Panama (March 1917).  Coast Artillery units were assigned there through 1946. Then it served as billeting area for U.S. Army Atlantic side troops 1946-1951. Fort Sherman had always been the most isolated of the military posts in the Canal area. From 1951 through 1999, Fort Sherman had been the home of the U.S. Army's Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC), which trained first individual soldiers and, since 1975, U.S. -based battalion-size units in jungle warfare and jungle survival.  Most of the installation was training areas, including extensive areas of double and triple canopy jungle. Also at Sherman was the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy-Panama.  Fort Sherman was transferred to Panama June 30, 1999.

FORT DAVIS (1920-1995) (4,075 acres/ Army/Atlantic side)

Initially known as Camp Gatun, Fort William D. Davis was constructed in 1920 as an infantry post to protect the nearby Gatun Locks and other critical Atlantic side facilities  of the Panama Canal.  The post was enlarged in 1939. Fort Davis was the headquarters for the Army's 14th Infantry Regiment (1920-1956); Panama Atlantic General Depot (1939-1946); Panama Mobile Force and Security Command (1941-1946); and the 4th Battalion, 10th Infantry (1962-1984).  In addition to stationing there of an infantry battalion, it also hosted, from late 1984 to mid-1990s the Army's 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), which moved from Fort Gulick shortly before part of that post was transferred to Panama.  Fort Davis was transferred to Panama September 15, 1995.

FORT GULICK (1941-1984/1995) (344 acres/ Army/Atlantic side)

Located at the western shore of  the Quebrada Ancha Arm of Gatun Lake, Fort Gulick was constructed as part of wartime construction to accommodate increasing number of troops in the Canal Zone up to World War II. Atlantic Sector hospital, constructed 1943, operated through 1946.  From 1949 through 1984, Fort Gulick was the home of the U.S. Army School of the Americas where more than 3,400 Latin American officers and enlisted personnel and military cadets from Central and South America and the Caribbean were trained in military skills, leadership and doctrine. From 1949 through 1984, the former hospital served as the School's headquarters building, building 400 known as Mundinger Hall.  Also at Fort Gulick since the 1960s was a U.S. Army Special Forces Group (the last one being the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

Part of Fort Gulick was transferred to Panama October 1, 1984 in compliance with the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 following the termination of operations in Panama of the Army School of the Americas which was relocated to Fort Benning, George, and the relocation of the Special Forces unit to nearby Fort Davis.  The part of Fort Gulick that transferred to Panama was renamed Fuerte Espinar by Panama.  The remainder of Fort Gulick was transferred to Panama September 15, 1995.

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Site developed, owned and maintained by

William H. Ormsbee, Jr.  2005

Panama Air Depot (PAD Area - including Albrook Army Airfield -- large hangars in center right of photo -- right of the rest of the PAD Area (U.S. Army Photo, 1978)

PAD Area-History 

PAD Area-New Uses

Fort Sherman-- Barracks, airstrip, training areas (including vast jungle training areas in back- ground) of the U.S. Army Jungle Operations Training Center

Fort Sherman- History 

Sherman-New Uses

Fort Davis -main part (photo from Southern Command Treaty Implementation pamphlet, 1994)

Fort Davis- History 

Davis-New Uses

U.S. ARMY JUNGLE OPERATIONS TRAINING CENTER

Fort Gulick -- main part with Headquarters of the U.S. Army School of the Americas (Bldg 400, Mundinger Hall) in foreground  (U.S. Army photo, 1978)

Fort Gulick- History 

Gulick/Espinar- New Uses

U.S. ARMY SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS