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American optometrists in the country\u2019s Dari\u00e9n Province are another. U.S. military salvage and dive teams training near the Panama Canal offer a third. As Washington shifts its attention toward the Western Hemisphere, a reinvigorated jungle school is just one part of the evolving U.S. military presence in Panama. More than 20 years after the U.S. turned over its bases to the Central American country, the partnership offers a glimpse of what the Pentagon\u2019s renewed focus on its own hemisphere could mean on the ground. \u201cThe Western Hemisphere is now the priority hemisphere,\u201d Col. Jacob White, deputy commander of Joint Security Cooperation Group-Panama (JSCG-P), said in an interview from the unit\u2019s Panamanian headquarters. \u201cWe want to move faster and be more present down in this hemisphere.\u201d Decades after the U.S. launched a deeply polarizing invasion to topple Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, the disparate missions are part of the U.S.\u2019s increasingly prioritized relationship with the country that hosts the only land bridge connecting the two American continents and the only waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. The Trump administration, and thus the Pentagon, has elevated \u201cdefense of the U.S. Homeland\u201d to the highest national security priority, downgrading China \u2014 which previously took the top spot \u2014 as a threat. In April 2025, the U.S. and Panama announced an agreement to counter Chinese influence in the region and secure the Panama Canal, laying the foundation for other joint activities. According to Henry Ziemer, a fellow with the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Panama never stopped being important to the U.S. military. It has the strategically important Panama Canal and Dari\u00e9n Gap, and the country sits at the intersection of some of the Trump administration\u2019s major priorities: canal security, migration and drug trafficking. Over the last year, Ziemer said, Panama\u2019s importance has increased \u201cas we\u2019ve seen supply chain disruptions at other critical waterways like the Strait of Hormuz.\u201dRoughly 5% to 6% of global trade passes through the waterway, with approximately 70% of that traffic passing to or from the United States.\u201cFor many subsequent administrations and decades, I think the United States took [its] eye off this neighborhood, off the Western Hemisphere,\u201d said Kevin Marino Cabrera, the U.S. Ambassador to Panama, emphasizing that developments in the region have direct impacts for the U.S.\u201cYou can\u2019t talk about migration without talking about Panama,\u201d he said, referring to the Dari\u00e9n Gap, which at its peak saw more than half a million migrant crossings per year. Panamanian service members also report drug smuggling through the narrow strip of land. From the U.S.\u2019s perspective, the \u201cborder begins in Panama,\u201d Ziemer said, adding \u201cit\u2019s a lot easier to secure the Isthmus of Panama than it is to secure the whole Southwest land border, right?\u201dU.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends the closing ceremony of PANAMAX 2026, Aug. 13, 2026. (Aris Martinez/Reuters)Cabrera said the partnership was mutually beneficial, though, as Panama also deals with cartels, drug trafficking and migration issues \u2014 though differently than the U.S. \u201cOur plan is to defeat the cartels, to maintain the Dari\u00e9n closed, so that we can secure the U.S. Southern border and keep our communities safe,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cwe\u2019re working together with Panama because they have many of the same goals.\u201dThough the gritty terrain of jungle school makes it a highlight of the partnership, the U.S. military\u2019s inroads in Panama extend well beyond the boundaries of Aeronaval Base Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n, where course is housed. Typically a country may host a U.S. Army Civil Affairs team or two \u2014 the Army\u2019s special operations forces contingent that connects military forces with civilian populations \u2014 but Panama is home to an entire U.S. Civil Affairs company, White said, that works in virtually every district. Those teams, he said, identify gaps in civilian infrastructure, such as dilapidated schools or unsafe bridges. The U.S. has military salvage dive teams operating around the canal and cross-training with Panamanian forces. Engineer soldiers rotate through the country, building out structures for jungle students. Military doctors work alongside Panamanian medical professionals to assist local populations, performing colonoscopies and cataract surgeries. Dentists and optometrists \u2014 even veterinarians \u2014 rotate through rural parts of the country. White said one of the lessons the U.S. learned during its decades-long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was that the military cannot quickly create trust. \u201cIn a crisis, you simply can\u2019t surge trust,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd so, being here \u2014 present \u2014 doing things on the regular with SENAFRONT and SENAN, with the government of Panama \u2014 and with their permission to do it \u2014 it helps build that trust.\u201d Though Panama does not have a standing Army, SENAFRONT and SENAN are two branches of the Panamanian Public Forces. On a tactical level, Panamanian instructors at the jungle school say the course, which includes Panamanian and U.S. soldiers, makes them feel that, in an emergency, U.S. soldiers would at least grasp how challenging it is to operate in a jungle environment. With terrain different from the U.S.\u2019s Hawaii jungle course, Panama\u2019s environment replicates other jungle biomes where the U.S. may find itself in conflict. The Western Hemisphere, White said, abounds with jungle landscape. But as the U.S. hones its focus on Central and South America, expanded U.S. activity inevitably raises questions about sovereignty. Decrepit military quarters line roads in and out of Aeronaval Base Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n, which the U.S. called Fort Sherman when it occupied it. Most sit abandoned, used only as shady hideaways for jungle instructors between missions. Officials have been adamant that the future does not hold permanent military basing for U.S. troops. White said the U.S. contingent works to uphold the Neutrality Treaty of 1977 \u2014 which guarantees the Panama Canal remains neutral and open for ships of all nations to transit peacefully. To do that, he said, the U.S. military is operating \u201cby, with and through the Panamanians.\u201d Eve Sampson is a reporter and former Army officer. 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