Fort Kobbe was an Army fort renamed from Fort Bruja on 15 April 1932 to honor Major General William A. Kobbe. At the time it was located adjacent to Howard Air Force Base in the Panama Canal Zone. In the 1930s it was primarily a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps post. It was located on the west side of the Panama Canal. Most of the area around it was uninhabited (part of the Panama Canal Zone watershed), though Panama City could be reached by crossing the nearby Bridge of the Americas. A rock quarry was operated intermittently in the southwest corner of the Fort near the southern end of the Howard Air Force Base main runway. In the Fort, there was a series of barracks starting on the southern end of Howard Air Force Base in the level land adjacent to the southern end of Howard Air Force Base. In the hills on the east side of the fort were Officer's Married and Bachelor Quarters, and an Officer's Club. There was a small parade field and married NCO housing in the southern end of the Fort. There was a beach in the southeast corner of the fort going into the Pacific Ocean. The beach was protected by a large shark net, as it was understood that the waters in that part of the Pacific were shark-infested. The tides were almost 12', so the beach was not a pristine site. Given that Panamanian locals did not have access to the area, the beach was not used very heavily. The eastern half of Fort Kobbe was jungle stretching over to the western side of the mouth of the Panama Canal.
The 33rd Infantry Regiment was reactivated at Fort Kobbe on 4 January 1950 and assumed responsibility for the entire Fort Kobbe/Howard Air Force Base post. [1] The regiment was inactivated and redesignated as the 20th Infantry at Fort Kobbe in May 1956. The 20th Infantry was reorganized and redesignated 15 November 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battle Group, 20th Infantry. It was inactivated 8 August 1962 at Fort Kobbe. Soon afterwards the 193rd Infantry Brigade was formed to expand ground forces available in the Southern Command area.
In the 1980s it was a relatively small post, and housed a battalion of paratroopers (2/187th Rakkasans and later 1/508th ABN), a firing battery of artillery (Battery B 22 Field Artillery) M-102 105mm; six gun battery with survey and search light section, a company of engineers (518th ENG CO), and a helicopter battalion (210th Combat Avn BN). Around 1986, the 518th Engineer Company was expanded into the 536th Engineer Battalion. Known as the "Nation Builders", the unit was deployed all over Central and South America on humanitarian and infrastructure projects. The unit had a company of combat engineers, Bravo Company, that came from the old 518th. The 15th Engineering Company, known as the "Road Dawgs" was a construction company. It consisted of dump trucks, graders, bulldozers, a complete quarry, a crane section, and mobile concrete trucks. The HQ Company had a well drilling detachment, as well as a Detachment of Army Divers. The unit would deploy to various undeveloped sites and, augmented with reserve troops from construction and medical units, would perform a wide variety of engineering and medical missions. This included road and bridge building, well drilling, building of churches and schools, and medical, dental, and veterinary clinics.
In 2000, Fort Kobbe was decommissioned and control was turned over to the Republic of Panama.
The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) formerly operated Fort Kobbe Elementary School for children of American military dependents. The DoDEA secondary schools in Panama were Curundu Middle School and Balboa High School. [2]
The 5th Battalion, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery battalion in the United States Army based at Fort Bliss, Texas. Known as "five-five-deuce", the battalion motto is "Always Prepared" The former motto was "We Build Warriors". The battalion is part of 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the 32nd Army Air & Missile Defense Command.
The 508th Infantry Regiment is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, first formed in October 1942 during World War II. The 508th is a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, and two battalions from the regiment are currently active: the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment is assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. The regiment served in combat during World War II, and regimental elements have served in combat in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 2nd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Joint Base Lewis–McChord south of Seattle, Washington, United States, is the second of three ranger battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.
Howard Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Panama. It discontinued military operations on 1 November 1999 as a result of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which specified that US military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zone be closed and the facilities be turned over to the Panamanian government.
The 193rd Infantry Brigade is a United States Army infantry brigade, which was originally constituted in the Army's organized reserves on 24 June 1922 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 193rd Infantry Brigade and assigned to the 97th Division. The brigade was converted and redesignated in February 1942 as the 97th Reconnaissance Troop, 97th Division. In February 1943, the Troop was ordered into active military service and organized at Camp Swift, Texas. It was reorganized and redesignated in October 1945 as the 97th Mechanized Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop.
The 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion was an independent airborne forces formation of battalion-size of the United States Army formed during World War II on 1 July 1941 at Fort Kobbe Panama Canal Zone. The 550th was originally formed as an air landing unit rather than a parachute or glider battalion.
The 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment was constituted 1 June 1821 in the Regular Army as the 4th Regiment of Artillery and organized from new and existing units with headquarters at Pensacola, Florida. As a result of the division of the Artillery Corps into Coast and Field Artillery units, the Regiment was broken up 13 February 1901, and its elements reorganized and redesignated as separate numbered companies and batteries of the Artillery Corps.
The 197th Infantry Brigade is an active Infantry brigade of the United States Army. The brigade was active as an Organized Reserve unit from 1921 to 1942, in the Regular Army from 1962 to 1991, and as a TRADOC training unit from 2007 to 2013. The brigade saw service in Operation Desert Storm with the 24th Infantry Division. On July 31, 2020, the brigade was activated as a training brigade in Fort Moore, Georgia, to serve the increased training needs of the army.
The 1st Air Defense Artillery is an air defense artillery regiment in the United States Army first formed as a field artillery unit in 1821.
The 2nd Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment in the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System, the regiment has a single active battalion, the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery, assigned to the 428th Field Artillery Brigade at the U.S. Army Field Artillery, Fort Sill, OK. Their long history is currently represented by the 2nd Field Artillery Mascots
The 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment is a battalion in the 1st Air Defense Artillery Regiment, a regiment in the United States Army, first formed in 1812, and based in South Korea.
The 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery regiment of the United States Army first organized in 1917 as a railway gun unit. It continued in that role unit 1943, when the regiment was broken in separate railway gun battalions, and in the following year the units were reorganized and redesignated as field artillery.
The 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery regiment of the United States Army, first formed in 1821 as a field artillery unit.
Cape Charles Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.6 miles (5.8 km) south of Townsend, Virginia. It was closed in 1981. From 1941 to 1948 it was Fort John Custis of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps. Since 1984 the site has been in the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. For this article's purposes the term "Fort John Custis" includes the nearby Fisherman Island.
The 3rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment is an air defense artillery regiment of the United States Army, first formed in 1821 as the 3rd Regiment of Artillery.
The 6th Field Artillery Regiment is a Field Artillery Branch regiment of the United States Army first activated in 1907 from numbered companies of artillery. It was first organized with two battalions.
The 25th Field Artillery Regiment is a field artillery regiment of the United States Army, first constituted 5 July 1918 in the National Army (USA). Although the regiment did not see action during World War I, elements participated in World War II, Vietnam, Panama, the Gulf War, and the Global War on Terrorism. Currently the regiment one active battalion, a towed light artillery units equipped with the M119A3 105mm Howitzer and the M777A2 155mm Howitzer. The 5th Battalion is assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Johnson, Louisiana. The 4th Battalion was inactivated on 14 August 2014.
The 10th Mountain Division Artillery (DIVARTY) is the divisional artillery command for the 10th Mountain Division. The DIVARTY served with the division from 1942 to the present, including fighting in World War II, Somalia and in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in peacetime in Germany; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Riley, Kansas; and Fort Drum, New York.
The 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment is an inactive field artillery battalion of the United States Army. The battalion has been assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division, 11th Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division. The battalion has participated in World War I, World War II, Operation Just Cause, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion inactivated in 2014 as part of ongoing force reductions.
The 2nd Battalion, 2nd Field Artillery Regiment is the United States Army’s Direct Support field artillery battalion; assigned to the 428th Field Artillery Brigade and stationed at Fort Sill, OK. Founded in 1775 as the Second Artillery Regiment, the Battalion now carries the lineage of the 18th Battery, Artillery Corps, and carries campaign credit for the Philippine Insurrection, World War I, and World War II.