Southern Command: ASA South of the Border Courtesy of Dave Shively

(from the June 1969 edition of The Hallmark)
Since she was visited by Columbus in 1502, Panama has been host to an interesting and colorful variety of guests, many of whom have shaped the course of history.

Balboa discovered the Pacific here; Morgan the Pirate plundered and burned Panama City; the 49ers crossed the Isthmus en route to California gold; and engineers came and built the famed canal here.

Today Panama finds herself host to the men of USASA Southern Command whose deeds history may regard as less colorful, but certainly significant. The command has a unique role in support of the joint U.S. Southern Command - whose responsibilities stretch from Mexico to the southernmost tip of South America - while serving the U.S. Army Southern Command as well.

USASA SOUTHCOM, although not officially organized as a command of the U.S. Army Security Agency until 1949, has a history which predates World War II.

The Panama Detachment, 2nd Signal Service Company, which supported the U.S. Army Panama Canal Department at Quarry Heights as early as 1939 preceded USASA in Panama.

ASA Caribbean, established in 1949, provided support to the U.S. Army Caribbean at Quarry Heights until 1952 when it was relocated at Ft. Kobe, C.Z. In 1961, the unit was reorganized and reestablished with a headquarters at Ft. Clayton and an operational site at Chiva Chiva in the Canal Zone.

Commanded today by LTC William C. Davidson, USASA SOUTHCOM now included the 401st SOD at Ft. Gulick, commanded by CPT Clinton R. Bailey, which is attached to the 8th Special Forces Group.

SOUTHCOM facilities are located at Ft. Clayton, the largest military installation near the Pacific terminus of the canal. Two large multi-storied buildings, designed to catch every tropical breeze, provide comfortable billets and also house the mess hall, mail, supply and orderly room, and recreational facilities.

Dependant schooling is provided by the Panama Canal Company and is one of the best U.S. school systems to be found outside the continental United States.

Inexpensive and readily available transportation through-out Central and South America affords the opportunity for virtually unlimited travel throughout the area.

Old Panama City, 15 miles from the Fort, usually ranks first on the newcomer's list. Toboga Island (the Acapulco of Panama) and the cites of Porto Bello and New Panama City are all within a leisurely weekend excursion.

Excellent beaches, well-rounded social activities, and prices that are hard to believe, characterize all of the resorts in Panama.

For the sportsman Panama leaves little to be desired. The name of the country itself in Indian means "abundance of fish," which any angler will soon find appropriate. Game also flourishes in Panama and great hunting is only two to three hours away.

Sites of historical interest in Panama are easily accessible. An hour's ride on the Panama Railroad, which parallels the canal, will carry one from coast to coast over the same route the 49ers traveled.

Not far from the Atlantic terminal of the railroad is Ft. San Lorenzo. Built by the Spanish to guard the mouth of the Chagres River, it marks the site of Columbus' landing in Panama. The country is rich in examples of pre-Columbian culture too.

There are a half dozen golf courses within five miles of Ft. Clayton and a non-hole course less than a five-minute walk away. Swimming in fresh-water pools or at one of the beaches becomes a daily activity for most of the personnel here. Shelling, scuba and snorkel diving, boating and water skiing round out the activities available to the salt-water enthusiast.

Civic action and a sense of responsibility to the community are manifested by ASA representation in such activities as Scouting, religious organizations, teaching English at the local Panama-North American Association and a host of other activities.

Most significant, perhaps, is the support rendered Escuela Sonadora. The small, remote Panamanian school which the command has "adopted" is helped in one way or another by nearly every member of the command in the course of his tour of duty.

The pride and spirit of the command is reflected in the unit motto, "Seguridad y Competencia," meaning security and competence. The unit is known for its excellent security and the professional competence with which it carries out assigned missions and responsibilities.

ASA soldiers find Panama a land of contrast . . . dense green jungles contrast with wide white beaches; primitive life of the Cun and Croco Indians with the modern cosmopolitan Panama City; the natives in dugout cayucas with largest ocean-going tankers as they go through the canal for world ports.

In this tropical setting, against a rich background of history, men of SOUTHCOM exercise their skills as distinctive members of the USASA family.