ASSUMPTION OF COMMUNITY-SUPPORT FUNCTIONS

Another significant part of the impact of the Panama Canal Treaty on the U.S. military was the assumption by Department of Defense agencies on October 1, 1979, of several community support functions previously performed by the former Panama Canal Company or Canal Zone Government. The Treaty prohibited the Panama Canal Commission from performing many of the community-support and retail functions previously performed by the Panama Canal Company or Canal Zone Government for the U.S. community in the Panama Canal Area. Other functions, such as running the Panama Railroad and the ports of Cristobal on the Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific side, were transferred to the Panama.)

Thus, Southern Command's components -- particularly the Army, which had already been the primary base operations support provider to the military in Panama -- were assigned additional or expanded missions. Extensive planning to take on the new missions (as well as incorporating into the civilian workforce of the Armed Forces the employees of those functions) was conducted by the Southern Command and its service components in coordination with several military commands in the United States, the military departments and the Joint Staff and the Office of Secretary of Defense.

The Treaty permitted U.S.-citizen employees of the Panama Canal Commission and their dependents to be provided military commissary, post exchange, and postal services during the first five years of the Treaty (through September 1984). Those employees and their dependents were provided education and medical care throughout the period of the Treaty.

Education -- The former Canal Zone Government school system (kindergarten through junior college) was transferred to the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) system, with the establishment of a new DoDDS region in Panama. In addition to the transferring function were transfer to DoDDS of the employees and teachers, the 16 schools in the former Canal Zone -- some of which were on military installations -- and the property of the school system. The assumption of the Panama Canal Junior College marked the first college operated by DoDDS. Base operations support to the schools was provided by the Army component (the 193 Infantry Brigade (Panama), later reorganized and redesignated U.S. Army South in 1986).

Medical and Veterinary Care -- The U.S. Army Health Services Command (in Panama called the U.S. Army Medical Department Activity Panama or MEDDAC Panama) assumed responsibility for the provision of health care during the Treaty period to U.S. citizen employees of the Panama Canal Commission and their dependents and certain other categories of personnel in addition to DoD military and U.S. citizen employees and their dependents. (Previously the Health Bureau under the former Canal Zone Government provided medical, dental, and veterinary care to the U.S. community in the Canal Zone, including military and DoD civilian personnel and dependents of both.) Gorgas and Coco Solo Hospitals were transferred to MEDDAC Panama, as well as the small animal hospitals at Corozal and Mindi.

The employees of the Canal Zone Government Health Bureau who operated the facilities transferred with their functions, thereby increasing significantly the MEDDAC Panama organization and the population served by it. The Army in Panama assumed operation of the Health Bureau's mortuary since Army Medical Department Activities do not provide this service.

Postal Service --  With the disestablishment of the Canal Zone postal system on October 1, 1979, the U.S. Air Force provided postal services to U.S. Government agencies in Panama, to the U.S. citizen employees and their dependents of the military and until October 1, 1984 also to the U.S. citizen employees and dependents of the Panama Canal Commission using the military APO system. This was done using the previous Canal Zone Government postal facilities located on military installations. The Postal facilities located outside military installations (such as the Balboa post office) were transferred to Panama on October 1, 1979.

Pier and Port Operations -- The transfer of the ports of Cristobal and Balboa from the former Panama Canal Company to Panama on October 1, 1979, required a considerable increase in Army pier and port operations mainly because of the need to service the entire Department of Defense population in Panama. Prior to October 1979, the Panama Canal Company provided such services to its own organization and to other U.S. agencies, including the Department of Defense. These functions were eventually transferred to the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC) upon activation of its Panama Terminal in April 1980.