Operation Sustain Liberty (Panama)

Deployed as part of the 978th Military Police Company to Panama frpm April-October 1996 in support of Operation Sustain Liberty, operating under the guidance of Task Force Panama. The unit’s mission focused on maintaining law and order, providing force protection, supporting base and community security operations, and assisting in stability and transition efforts during ongoing U.S. military presence in the region. Operations required coordination with joint-service elements and host-nation counterparts while maintaining readiness in a dynamic operational environment.

Joint Task Force Panama (JTF Panama) — the operational framework

By the mid- to late-1990s, the U.S. military had established a Joint Task Force Panama (JTF Panama) structure to oversee the phased withdrawal of U.S. forces, closure of bases, and transfer of facilities to the Government of Panama ahead of the December 31, 1999 handover mandated by the Torrijos–Carter Treaties.

In 1903, the Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed between Panama and the United States. It created the Panama Canal Zone as a U.S. governed region, and allowed the U.S. to build the Panama Canal. In 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Commander of Panama’s National Guard, General Omar Torrijos signed the Panama Canal Treaty (also called Torrijos–Carter Treaties), it would replace and absolve the 1903 treaty.

The Torrijos–Carter Treaties called for the transfer of the Panama Canal to Panama and the withdrawal of U.S. military presence from Panama by December 31, 1999. Specifically focusing on the accelerated handover of U.S. military installations during the mid-1990s as the final 1999 deadline approached. By 1996, the United States was in the process of transferring approximately 95,293 acres of land and 5,237 buildings, valued at around $4 billion USD, to the Panamanian government.

• A Joint Task Force Panama was established as the logistics- and operations-level headquarters supporting the drawdown, base transfers, and redeployment of personnel and equipment in compliance with treaty obligations.
• In several discussions of Panama operations through the 1990s, this JTF designation — Joint Task Force Panama — is explicitly associated with managing withdrawal/lifecycle support rather than combat missions.

Operation Sustain Liberty (Operations Other Than War)

The 978th Military Police Company was deployed — DoD force provider listings (e.g., appropriations hearing charts) note an named operation supporting U.S. efforts to maintain force structure in Panama:

• Operation SUSTAIN LIBERTY — force provider to U.S. Southern Command to augment force structure in Panama beginning March 1996 and through the drawdown period.