In the summer and fall of 1989, while American attention focused on
events in Eastern Europe which heralded the end of the Cold War,
developments in Panama raised the possibility of combat much closer
to home. Operations in Panama would test the changes to the U.S.
military command system brought about by the Goldwater- Nichols
Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. Panama would also try the team
at the head of that system-President George H. W. Bush, Secretary
of Defense Richard B. Cheney, and the new Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), General Colin L. Powell, U.S. Army.
Strengthened by personal relationships formed during earlier
administrations, this team would, in a large measure, determine the
operational success of the Goldwater-Nichols reforms. Widely viewed
as the most significant defense legislation since the National
Security Act of 1947, Goldwater-Nichols sought to streamline the
command and control of U.S. military forces engaged in contingency
operations. In 1988, as relations with Panama deteriorated, the
commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), General Frederick F.
Woerner, Jr., U.S. Army, had developed a strategy which gradually
increased the strength of U.S. forces in Panama to deter the
dictator, General Manuel Noriega, from attacking U.S. citizens or
interfering with the Panama Canal. If deterrence failed, Woerner
planned to bring in additional forces from the United States over a
three-week period before taking action against Noriega. But after
Noriega overturned the results of the Panamanian election of May
l989, President Bush lost patience with General Woerner's approach
and replaced him with General Maxwell R. Thurman, U.S. Army.
Aggressive by nature, Thurman modified the BLUE SPOON plan to
accommodate a major shift in the strategy for dealing with Noriega.
Accelerating the buildup of U.S. forces in Panama, Thurman also
shortened the timetable for the deployment of additional forces
from the U.S. to three days. Hoping to take Noriega by surprise,
General Thurman intended to overwhelm the dictator's forces before
they could organize effective resistance or take U.S. citizens
hostage. Thurman took advantage of the CINC's power under
Goldwater-Nichols to select Lieutenant General Carl W. Stiner, U.S.
Army, the Commander of the XVIIIth Airborne Corps, to command a
joint task force of 22,000 soldiers, 3,400 airmen, 900 Marines, and
700 sailors. General Powell approved Thurman's action. The result
was a force with unity of command and good interoperability which
would rapidly achieve its operational objectives. In late l989
relations with Panama grew sharply worse. On 15 December l989, the
National Assembly passed a resolution that a state of war existed
with the United States, and Noriega named himself the Maximum
Leader. Violence followed the next evening when a Panamanian
soldier shot three American officers; one, First Lieutenant Robert
Paz, U.S. Marine Corps, died of his wounds. Witnesses to the
incident, a U.S. naval officer and his wife, were assaulted by
Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) soldiers while in police custody. In
the early hours of 20 December, conventional task forces seized
additional key points and the land approaches to Panama City. The
operational success of JUST CAUSE rewarded efforts by Congress and
the Bush administration to avoid repeating the mistakes of Lebanon
and Grenada. The determination of President Bush and the enhanced
authority of the Chairman and CINC combined to provide specific,
readily attainable objectives and responsive and effective command
and control while giving the tactical commander considerable
operational freedom. However, when shortcomings in prior planning
and mistakes by local commanders embarrassed the administration,
General Powell acted to ensure the political success of the
operation.
General
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