Operation Just Cause - Panama – 1989

[cutiger83]

Operation Just Cause - Panama – 1989

 

Just Cause consisted of the deployment of numerous US forces from all service branches. These also included US Army Rangers, Special Forces, Navy SEALs, and various Air Force personnel and aircraft. One of the less-publicized elements of the invasion force was the US Army's 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta, whose primary mission involved efforts to locate and secure Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, targeted for arrest by U.S. federal law enforcement agents.

 

In the 1989 Panama invasion - at that time the largest US military action since Vietnam - women soldiers gained a new visibility. Almost 800 participated, constituting about 4 percent of the total force. At least 150 were in combat areas, some coming under enemy fire and some returning fire. Army women flew Blackhawks ferrying infantry troops and supplies, often under enemy fire. Air Force women flew cargo and refueling missions, also under fire.

 

Women members of the Military Police engaged enemy soldiers and hostile civilians in order to secure key positions.

December 20, 1989 - At approximately 1:00 a.m., Operation Just Cause began in Panama. The 7th and 82nd Military Police Companies took part in the operation with their respective divisions as well as the 549th MP Company, stationed in Panama. At 1:30 a.m., Captain Linda Bray, of the 519th MP Battalion, lead a platoon of military police in an attack against a Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) compound near Panama City. Bray and 45 soldiers under her command in the 988th Military Police Company, nearly all of them men, encountered a unit of Panamanian special operations soldiers holed up inside a military barracks and dog kennel. Her troops killed three of the enemy and took one prisoner before the rest were forced to flee, leaving behind a cache of grenades, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition, according to Associated Press news reports published at the time. The Americans suffered no casualties.

 

Citing Bray's performance under fire as an example, Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., introduced a bill to repeal the law that barred female U.S. military personnel from serving in combat roles. But the response from the Pentagon brass was less enthusiastic.

 

"The responses of my superior officers were very degrading, like, `What were you doing there?'" Bray said. "A lot of people couldn't believe what I had done, or did not want to believe it. Some of them were making excuses, saying that maybe this really didn't happen the way it came out." Schroder's bill died after top generals lobbied against the measure, saying female soldiers just weren't up to the physical rigors of combat.

 

For Bray, the blow back got personal.

 

The Army refused to grant her and other female soldiers who fought on the ground in Panama the Combat Infantryman Badge. She was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Valor, an award for meritorious achievement in a non-combat role.

 

Bray was also the subject of an Army investigation over allegations by Panamanian officials that she and her soldiers had destroyed government and personal property during the invasion that toppled Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

Though eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, the experience soured Bray on the Army. In 1991, she resigned her commission after eight years of active duty and took a medical discharge related to a training injury.

 

Whether Captain Bray fired one shot or ten, whether the fray lasted one minute or twenty, it was still a combat area and the Army's treatment of Captain Bray was execrable - as was that of the media. Captain Bray did her job, did it well, and was in turn literally made into some sort of pariah by the military and civilian "I I Cs" (idiots in charge). The result - a complete waste of the intelligence, ability and dedication of an exemplary officer.

 

Women made up more than four per cent of the invasion force ...but they were "not considered as having been in combat."

 

[Rakkasan187]

Kat,

 

Great information.. Too often we forget about America's Fighting Women and their valuable contributions to the defense of our Nation..

 

Thank you for reminding us..

 

Leigh

[USMC-RECON0321]

Sorry, but Combat "Infantry" Badges are only earned by "Infantry" for a reason, doesn't matter if its a female or male soldier. If you're not Infantry you don't get it. Its that simple. But no worries, the Army now issues Combat action badges. This is a very sore subject for infantry personnel. Infantry is a very tough life in peace time and combat. A totally different experience being a grunt, going out every day to seek out, close width and destroy the enemy, vs being caught up in a firefight.

I'm not taking away from any of the brave actions or reactions of non infantry soldiers (male or female), But its not the daily grind of a grunt in combat.

And Yes, Women have done great things in direct combat without heisitation. I was proud to see them there! But they still didn't do what we did as grunts on the hunt. The CIB is very specific and you don't just give it to a non-infantry soldier for being in a firefight, there is MUCH more to earning that every day in a combat zone and living the life as a GRUNT!!!

​Troy

[Allan H.]

"The Army refused to grant her and other female soldiers who fought on the ground in Panama the Combat Infantryman Badge. She was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for Valor, an award for meritorious achievement in a non-combat role."

 

Kat-

I've enjoyed your posts, but I have to admit that I have some serious heartburn with the second sentence in the above statement. If you wrote this, you should know that the Army Commendation medal can be awarded for valor OR for meritorious service AND it can be awarded during time of war or in peacetime. HOWEVER, the only time the "V" device can be awarded is for valor during wartime. It is indeed a combat award. Had CPT Bray not been in combat, she would not have been awarded an Army Commendation Medal with "V" device. The Bronze Star medal can also be awarded for merit or for valor with the distinction being the "V" device for awards of valor verses medals awarded without the V for merit.

 

USMC Recon explained the award criteria for the Combat Infantry Badge (11 series or 18 series MOS). Nobody else is eligible. Army soldiers that served in Panama during Operation Just Cause received permission to wear a combat patch on their right shoulders. CPT Bray and other females earned that right and wore (and some still wear) that combat patch. This is how the army determines whether a soldier has been in combat.

 

Allan

[Kadet]

..as a point of reference, several of the SEALs that assaulted Paitilla airfield during the invasion received the Navy Commendation w/ V device.