Image: U.S. Army Col. Keith W. Benedict, commander of Joint Security Cooperation Group – Panama, awards students with the jungle tab on the graduation day of the Jungle Operations Training Course – Panama at Aeronaval Base Cristóbal Colón, Panama, Feb. 20, 2026. The jungle tab signifies expertise in jungle survival, mobility, and tactical operations in an austere environment. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Richard Morgan)
Soldiers who have completed a jungle training school are now eligible for the Jungle tab on their uniform. In a July 22nd memorandum the Army approved service-wide authorization for soldiers to wear the skill badge. The skill tabs can be worn on the left shoulder of the uniform – similar to the Special Forces, Ranger, Sapper, or President’s Hundred tabs. Previous to this new memorandum, the Jungle Tab was only authorized in the U.S. Army Pacific region or units. The new tab simply says “Jungle”.
The tab is authorized for personnel who completed training at the Hawaii or Panama based Jungle Schools or for service members who executed until level training at JOTC in Fort Sherman, Panama from 1990 until its closure in 1999. The new policy will be included in the next revision of Army Regulation 670-1 and Army Regulation 600-8-22. Special skill badges are awarded to denote proficiency in performance of duties under hazardous conditions and circumstances of extraordinary hardship and special qualifications and successful completion of prescribed courses of training
The Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) operated at Fort Sherman, Panama for many years until it was closed in 1999 along with the closure of Fort Sherman. The Jungle Expert badge was worn by graduates of the JOTC at Fort Sherman. The badge was authorized for wear by soldiers assigned to U.S. Army South who graduated from JOTC but the badge was never recognized Army-wide. The Jungle Expert Badge was retired in 1999, it featured the words “Jungle Expert” above a badge with a sailing ship. This badge was replaced in 2014 with the Jungle Expert Tab.
Image: The Jungle Expert Badge awarded to graduates of the Jungle Operations Training Course (JOTC) at Fort Sherman, Panama. (Wikipedia). The sailing ship with a Maltese cross on the sail symbolizes Panama’s rich history of early Spanish exploration, Caribbean navigation, and maritime heritage tied to the Isthmus of Panama.
The Jungle Operations Training Center in Panama operated from the early 1950s to 1999. It was located on the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal. The course was nicknamed “the Green Hell”. It served as a training ground for soldiers, some who were headed to the Vietnam conflict in the 1960s and early 1970s. The terrain in Panama was similar to that found in South Vietnam. The school had an annual enrollment of 9,000 personnel. In 1976, the Army decided to train whole battalions at the course, rather than individual soldiers. The JOTC also taught a 10-day Air Crew Survival Course and a four-week Engineer Jungle Warfare Course. The school was shut down as a result of the treaty signed by President Carter with Panama in 1977, the trend toward an Army using high-tech equipment, and a belief that jungle wars for the U.S. were in the past. The Army decided that it would be too expensive to relocate the school.
A new jungle training school was set up in Hawaii, run by the 25th Infantry Division’s Lighning Academy. It is called the Jungle Operation Training Course and is 12 days long. The course covers land navigation, combat tracking, small unit tactics, knot tying, rope systems, and primitive survival skills in a jungle environment. The course is run at the Lightning Academy’s East Range Training Area. Prior to attending the course, prospective students must pass a combat water survival test. There are other ‘must pass’ events that students need to meet; land navigation, rope skills and knot tying, and physical fitness tests. Graduates of the Hawaii course who were assigned to U.S. Army Pacific area of responsibility or U.S. Army Pacific units could wear a tab that said “Jungle Expert”.
Image: The Jungle Expert Tab was created by U.S. Army Pacific and could be worn by graduates of the 25th Infantry Division’s Jungle Operations Training Center in Hawaii who were assigned to the U.S. Army Pacific’s area of responsibility or units. (Wikipedia)
In 2025, the U.S. Army reestablished the jungle training school at the former Fort Sherman; now known as the Aeronaval Base Cristobal Colon. the new Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama is a 21-day course with three phases. The Army Security Cooperation Group – South now oversees the Combined Jungle Operations Training Center in Panama.
Image: A soldier receives the Jungle tab in a ceremony in July 2026 in Panama. U.S. Army Photo by Pfc. Carolyn Dodge.
Retroactive Eligibility. Past graduates of both courses are now eligible to wear the tab as well as new graduates. Past graduates should submit a Personnel Action Request (PAR) with proof of completion of a jungle school to their chain of command to be awarded the tab retroactively.
The Jungle tab joins four other tabs that are currently authorized and considered permanent: the Special Forces, Ranger, Sapper, and the President’s Hundred. There are other tabs that are authorized based on the individuals unit of assignment.
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References:
“Earning the Army’s jungle tab”, army.mil, December 8, 2024
Video – How Army Jungle Soldiers Are Training for a Possible War with China, Business Insider, YouTube, June 1, 2023, one hour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwBYPgBK_OA
“Jungle Training Center Comes to End of Long Slog”, by Juanita Darling, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 1999.
“Farewell to a Tarzan training ground”, by David Abel, The Christian Science Monitor, June 3, 1999.
