The first major withdrawal of troops began in October 1994 with the inactivation of elements of the 193d Infantry Brigade (Light), U.S. Army South's combat unit. To provide some lead time to Panama as well as to send a clear message of the seriousness of the U.S. military's intent to continue to abide by the Panama Canal Treaty, then U.S. Southern Commander in Chief Army General Barry McCaffrey directed that a symbolic ceremony be held June 3 at Fort Clayton. The remainder of this article lists the major units inactivated or relocated.

Extent of relocation actions.

Since Southern Command's Air Force, Navy, and Marine component commands were already located in the United States, drawdown planning had to address relocation issues only for the Headquarters, Southern Command, its Army component, U.S. Army South (an overseas major Army command) at Fort Clayton, and its subunified Special Operations Command-South at Corozal. Thus, detailed and lengthy processes, including conducting site surveys and analyses for candidate relocation sites (as was required for relocating Headquarters, Southern Command; U.S. Army South; and Special Operations Command-South) were precluded for those component commands (listed below). Their forward-based elements were inactivated as noted in the following list of drawdown actions.

• U.S. Southern Air Force/12th Air Force (USSOUTHAF) -- Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. (The 12th Air Force, commanded by a three-star lieutenant general, is under the Tactical Air Command.) Although primarily based in Arizona, USSOUTHAF also maintained a forward element (USSOUTHAF-Forward) at Howard Air Force Base in Panama. The USSOUTHAF-Forward commander was dual-hatted as commander of the 24th Wing.
• Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANTFLT) at Norfolk, Virginia, and commanded by a four-star Admiral. The Navy also relied on a forward element, CINCLANTFLT Detachment South at Rodman Naval Station, Panama.
• Marine Forces South/II Marine Expeditionary Force (MARFORSOUTH) and Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and commanded by a lieutenant general. SouthCom's Marine component was represented in Panama by a small planning and liaison element.