united states army south
December 4, 1986, United States Army South was activated as a major Army command and the Army component of U.S. Southern Command, with headquarters at Fort Clayton.
Operation Just Cause, the U.S. military action used to depose Panamanian dictator, Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega, was officially conducted from December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990. U.S. Army South's Headquarters became the headquarters for Joint Task Force-South, the headquarters designated to execute the operation. During the Panama invasion, total troop numbers increased to 27,000. Of these, 13,000 were already stationed in Panama and 14,000 were flown in from the U.S.
October 14, 1994 the 193rd Infantry Brigade was the first major unit to inactivate in accordance with the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977, which mandated U.S. Forces withdrawal from Panama by December 1999.
As part of a unified command plan change, on June 1, 1997 U.S. Southern Command assumed geographic responsibility for U.S. military forces operating in the Caribbean Basin and the Gulf of Mexico. Within this framework, U.S. Army South's geographical area of responsibility expanded to now include today, 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Latin America and the Caribbean, except Puerto Rico and Mexico. In 1998, U.S. Army South units participated in 15 platoon exchanges at the Jungle Operation Training Center with soldiers from Belize, Colombia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay.
U.S. Army South was subsequently relocated in August 1999 to Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico and finally to Fort Sam Houston, Texas in September 2002.