# 8th Special Forces Group JOTC Ft. Sherman Panama



## Gunz (Jan 26, 2016)

Came across this old film about 8th Group's Jungle Warfare School at Ft. Sherman, a course I humped in 1972. The film is from 1966.





 
8th Grp was disbanded shortly after I was there. Great guys, mostly senior NCO's and terrific instructors. The jungle course had been lengthened to three weeks by the time I went through. I think after Just Cause we unassed the AO and gave the base back to Panama. A waste, IMV.

It was called Green Hell for a reason. The actual land navigation part was three or four days in the jungle. They dropped us off around midnight on a jungle road in the mountains and just pointed to the wall of vegetation and said "go."

Very nasty but a great experience.


----------



## Ooh-Rah (Jan 26, 2016)

I absolutely devour these Vietnam era videos and stories; thanks for sharing!


----------



## Red Flag 1 (Jan 26, 2016)

Please forgive me. For some reason this just kept playing in my head: 



. I miss him.


----------



## Gunz (Jan 26, 2016)

Adrain Cronauer left Vietnam 4 years before I  got there, but AFVN radio was a big part of our day. We came off our ambush sites an hour before dawn and humped back to our Day Haven... and inevitably as we made our C-rat coffee in our metal canteen cups over little chunks of burning C4, we had AFVN on the transistor radio.

One song that always comes to mind from those days was a Vietnamese version of _Love Potion Number Nine, _sung by a Vietnamese female with challenged English pronunciation. But it played incessantly, of course...:wall:.

As far as Robin Williams goes...a great talent and obviously a man in considerable pain. May he Rest in Peace.


----------



## Centermass (Jan 26, 2016)

Ocoka One said:


> 8th Grp was disbanded shortly after I was there. Great guys, mostly Latino senior NCO's and terrific instructors. The jungle course had been lengthened to three weeks by the time I went through.* I think after Just Cause we unassed the AO and gave the base back to Panama. A waste, IMV.*



7th SFG took over the absence of 8th Group. SF remained a presence on the pacific side until the BRAC occurred in 1999.  

I was stationed there as a JOTC Instructor for 2 years. We had 4 training teams. Team 4 was all SF. Green Hell remained a training ritual for rotating units until Sherman closed it doors for good.


----------



## Gunz (Jan 27, 2016)

Centermass said:


> 7th SFG took over the absence of 8th Group. SF remained a presence on the pacific side until the BRAC occurred in 1999.
> 
> I was stationed there as a JOTC Instructor for 2 years. We had 4 training teams. Team 4 was all SF. Green Hell remained a training ritual for rotating units until Sherman closed it doors for good.


 

Very cool, thank you CM. I remembered someone here on SS having mentioned JOTC. The barracks are rundown now judging by the photos. One of the best goddam showers I ever had in my life was in those barracks even though I was so fried from the jungle I left my $200 Seiko watch behind.

I didn't go through that course on my way to Vietnam. I did it two years later with a group of Marine NCOs. I remember thinking on about Day Two in that jungle that I'd rather be back in I Corps taking my chances.


----------



## Devildoc (Jan 27, 2016)

I like the VN-era films as well.  Youtube is a treasure trove of old stuff, one of my faves one about the pre-Sage Sage in West Va in the early 60s.


----------



## Centermass (Jan 27, 2016)

Ocoka One said:


> Very cool, thank you CM. I remembered someone here on SS having mentioned JOTC. The barracks are rundown now judging by the photos. One of the best goddam showers I ever had in my life was in those barracks even though I was so fried from the jungle I left my $200 Seiko watch behind.
> 
> I didn't go through that course on my way to Vietnam. I did it two years later with a group of Marine NCOs. I remember thinking on about Day Two in that jungle that I'd rather be back in I Corps taking my chances.



The original plan by the Panamanian government after taking it over was to make it a resort / fishing destination / beaches / lodging etc. For whatever reason (s) never happened, except locals now using it as a launch for fishing boats. I saw the same recent pictures of my old housing unit up on the hill. Everything up there (Formerly in immaculate condition) is now dilapidated, run down and been rat fucked for copper amongst other things. 

There have been many proposals over the last few years to revive the training, either there (Which has been all talk, nothing with real teeth) Belize, Hawaii and other locations. The only location where any kind of training (Besides what SOCSOUTH receives and provides) resembling JOTC, has been Hawaii.


----------



## Gunz (Jan 28, 2016)

Speaking of fishing, some years back I had long conversation with Headshot re fishing off Ft Sherman, which he raved about. I guess he'd managed a few trips before of after shooting at PDF guys in Chorrillo.


----------



## Diamondback 2/2 (Jan 28, 2016)

Centermass said:


> The original plan by the Panamanian government after taking it over was to make it a resort / fishing destination / beaches / lodging etc. For whatever reason (s) never happened, except locals now using it as a launch for fishing boats. I saw the same recent pictures of my old housing unit up on the hill. Everything up there (Formerly in immaculate condition) is now dilapidated, run down and been rat fucked for copper amongst other things.
> 
> There have been many proposals over the last few years to revive the training, either there (Which has been all talk, nothing with real teeth) Belize, Hawaii and other locations. The only location where any kind of training (Besides what SOCSOUTH receives and provides) resembling JOTC, has been Hawaii.



The electric strawberry division has been running a JOTC school for a couple of years, not sure how good the training is, as I'm sure it's very different than the Ft Sherman school.

ETA: Link

Welcome to the Jungle - 25th ID trains jungle experts | Article | The United States Army


----------



## Gunz (Jan 29, 2016)

Real men went through Panama. Just sayin. 

Jungles are just fucking nasty-ass places to have to soldier. You're never dry, you're always filthy, cuts and wounds don't heel, visibility is poor to non-existent, the heat and humidity are staggering, you're drenched by sudden downpours, pests and parasites are legion, maneuver is restricted, traveling even short distances is slow and exhausting, resupply/support/medevac from road or air is difficult if not impossible...and after a week or two it starts playing with your mind. Give it time it'll drive you fucking crazy.

So, wherever we train people for jungle warfare better be good.


----------

