Hegseth visits U.S. troops at Panama jungle training center

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth met with U.S. service members training in the jungles of Panama this week, telling them that U.S. Southern Command’s mission has shifted toward defending American and partner-nation sovereignty across the Western Hemisphere, Pentagon News reported.

Hegseth visited the Combined Jungle Training Center-South in Cristobal Colon, on the northern side of the Panama Canal, where instructors run the Jungle Operations Training Course-Panama. Marines assigned to Littoral Combat Force-24 were also at the site as part of Panamax 2026, a multinational exercise hosted by Panama and sponsored by Southcom.

The visit coincided with Hegseth’s address to the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, a security alliance the Trump administration launched in March 2026 to combat transnational drug cartels, curb illegal migration and limit foreign interference in the hemisphere. The coalition is also known as the Shield of the Americas.

“I think this is what … the warrior ethos looks like; it’s what reestablishing it looks like,” Hegseth said. “It happens in training centers like this, with Americans like this, who do really difficult things in really tough places.”

Hegseth said Southcom’s mission has changed substantially in recent months.

“This is a different Southcom; this is a different mission,” he said. “We are focused on military capabilities against real threats who need to be deterred and defeated, and we’re going to give them everything they need to do it, on behalf of the American people.”

Marine Corps Gen. Francis L. Donovan has led Southcom since Feb. 5, 2026, when he assumed command from acting commander Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan Pettus. Donovan succeeded Adm. Alvin Holsey, who retired after less than a year leading the command.

Hegseth described the administration’s approach as an extension of the Monroe Doctrine, the 1823 policy that barred European colonization and interference in the Western Hemisphere. President Theodore Roosevelt expanded the doctrine in 1904 to allow U.S. intervention to protect American interests in Latin America.

“It is a recognition that [designated terrorist organizations] … will not control our hemisphere … and we will not allow foreign malign influence to take over … key terrain like the Panama Canal,” he said.

Colombia joined the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition as its 19th member this week.

“The A3C had formed, but in some ways, it missed part of its core,” Hegseth said. “Colombia is going to be [an] incredible partner. They offered to be a headquarters or a hub for the A3C as the brand-new 19th member. They’ve got … hundreds of thousands of capable members of their military and decades of training with the United States … that mil-to-mil relationship has been long-standing, and that’s why they’re coming to this jungle course soon.”

Hegseth also announced a new motto for the coalition during his remarks: “We do bad things to bad people.”