-. Binding : Office Product
-. Feature : U. S. Army Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) Patch - 4 13/16" X 4 1/2" Highly Detailed Embroidered Patch with Merrowed Edge and Wax Backing - Jungle Expert Patch - 1953 to 1999 - Fort Sherman, Panama / The Jungle Operations Committee, of the School of the Americas was separated by the Department of the Army on 1 July 1968, and became the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC). The JOTC was placed under operational control of the 8th Special Forces Group on 1 July 1970. In July of 1975 the JOTC became an independent major subordinate command within the 193rd Infantry Brigade. These were P.R.Imarily administrative moves, with little impact on the content of the Jungle Operations Course. The school did receive other responsibilities in addition to running the JOC; a USARSO RECONDO course was established in March of 1969, and operation of the USARSO NCO academy was given to the JOTC in October 1971. The Jungle Operations Course was three weeks long throughout the early 1970's with minor alterations in the POI; most of these were caused by technological improvements in night vision optics and heliborne mobility. Slots to the JOTC were given P.R.Imarily to CONUS based light and airborne battalions. Slots were still allocated to individual soldiers in a manner similar to Airborne School. Organic units such as a squad from 1-504 Parachute Infantry Regiment did not attend the course. Soldiers from throughout the Army came to JOTC and were assigned to a provisional squad / platoon for the duration of the course. The jungle warfare skills learned and the opportunity for NCOs to test their leadership was undoubtedly very valuable, but a major change initiated in the mid-1970s vastly improved the benefits gained from attendance. The Jungle Operations Training Center was reorganized in Fiscal Year 1976 to train battalion sized units. The basic POI was still taught, but soldiers now attended all training with members of their organic teams, squads, and platoons. This did much to improve unit teambuilding and to enhance leadership skills of junior NCOs and officers. After core week training, platoons went through situational training exercises (STX) / The areas used throughout the various incarnations of the U.S. Army jungle warfare school include Fort Sherman and the Pina Range Complex. Fort Sherman Military Reservation is bordered to the North and North-West by the Caribbean Sea, on the South and South-West by the Rio Chagres, and East by Limon Bay and Gatun Lake. It consists of 23,000 acres of single and double canopy jungle, which is cross-compartmentalized with steep rolling hills, numerous tributaries, mangrove swamps and coastline. The contonment area includes barracks and mess facilities, cadre headquarters and offices, a boathouse with docks, classroom and instruction sites, and recreation facilities. Training areas on the Fort Sherman Military Reservation include the maneuver area with several fortified or semi-permanent objectives, a jungle land navigation course, and jungle combat maneuver lanes, helicopter landing zones, a drop zone, and two coastal artillery batteries that have been converted into small arms ranges and special warfare training sites. The Pina Range Complex is immediately South of Fort Sherman, across the Rio Chagres. This complex includes several small arms live fire ranges and maneuver lanes, a mortar maneuver course, a live fire village, and a demolitions range. White Drop Zone and other areas of Gatun Lake are used for airborne insertions and small boat operations. The Rio Chagres is also used for small boat and tactical riverine operations and as part of the Sapper (light combat engineer) live demolitions maneuver course. The coastal artillery batteries and anti-aircraft gun emplacements on Fort Sherman were obsolete by the mid-1940s; most of the large caliber guns had not been fired in years. Attack from the air was the major threat, and mobile anti-aircraft guns and missiles, and motorized ground forces had replaced most of the static defenses of the Canal. This left Fort Sherman with a caretaker garrison and the P.R.Imary mission to billet troops stationed on the Atl
-. Label : Bayonet Design
-. Manufacturer : Bayonet Design
-. PackageQuantity : 1
-. ProductGroup : Art and Craft Supply
-. ProductTypeName : ART_SUPPLIES
-. Publisher : Bayonet Design
-. Studio : Bayonet Design
-. Title : U. S. Army Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) 4 13/16" X 4 1/2" Highly Detailed Embroidered Patch Merrowed Edge and Wax Backing - Jungle Expert Patch - Fort Sherman, Panama