By Shannon Schwaller, Army Heritage and Education CenterIn the early morning hours of December 20, 1989, the United States Army spearheaded a carefully planned and well-executed attack that overwhelmed the Panamanian Defense Forces (PDF) of dictator Manuel Noriega. The operation involved 27,684 U.S. troops and over 300 aircraft, including The operation began with an assault of strategic installations, such as the civilian Fort Amador was secured by elements of the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division [Scouts] and 59th Engineer Company (sappers) in a nighttime air assault which secured the fort in the early hours of 20 December. Background. Some countries charged that the U.S. had committed an act of aggression by invading Panama and was trying to conceal a new manifestation of its interventionist policy of force in Latin America. At the time, Operation Just Cause was the largest and most complex combat operation since the Vietnam War. The plan was significantly modified in early 1989 after Noriega increased attempts to intimidate American civilians and soldiers and after he orchestrated assaults against newly elected anti-Noreiga candidates. Conflict in Panama involving the United States and the Panamanian Defense ForceUnited States military forces involved in Operation Just CauseUnited States military forces involved in Operation Just Cause"The Noriega Challenge to George Bush's Credibility and the 1989 Invasion of Panama". General Thurman envisioned the operation as a rapid take-down of the Panamanian Defense Forces. This came as a result of a U.S. invasion that overthrew a military dictatorship which ruled Panama from 1968 to 1989. Panama is the second country in Latin America (the other being Costa Rica) to permanently abolish standing armies, with Panama retaining a small para-military security force. Nearly 26,000 combat troops deployed, with just under half being from bases in the United States. Soldiers practiced room-clearing as well as prisoner control, using the barracks. The military incursion into Panama began on 20 December 1989, at 1:00 a.m. local time. Bush cited Panama's declaration of a state of war with the United States and attacks on American troops as justification for the invasion.Bush further identified four objectives of the invasion: Protesters echoed claims that 3,000 people were killed as a result of U.S. military action. Nearly 26,000 combat troops deployed, with just und… Invasion of Panama (1989)--A short war between the United States and Panama in 1989 in which the United States invaded Panama in order to secure the Panama Canal and to remove Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega from power.The U.S. military name for this invasion was Operation Just Cause. Thorough planning was conducted with regard both to the operational aspects as well as to the political implications of forcibly removing Noriega from power. Approximately 600 of the 26,000 U.S. forces involved in the invasion were women. On 29 December, the Some claim that the Panamanian people overwhelmingly supported the invasion.On 19 July 1990, a group of 60 companies with operations in Panama filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in About 20,000 people lost their homes and became refugees as a result of The government of Guillermo Endara designated the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion a "national day of reflection". At the time, Operation Just Cause was the largest and most complex combat operation since the Vietnam War. The U.S. During FY 1989 the rapid deployment of Army forces and their operation in Panama constituted the most visible element of the administration's determination to protect American interests in Panama. Hundreds of Panamanians marked the day with a "black march" through the streets of Panama City to denounce the U.S. invasion and Endara's economic policies. They became more aggressive as the situation between the two nations deteriorated. His sentence was later reduced to 30 years.All 27 objectives related to the Panamanian Defense Force were completed on D-Day, 20 December 1989. 50–63 " Units of the 82nd Airborne Division and the 7th Infantry Division, soon to be sent to Panama once the operation began, also increased training. Due to the close proximity of American facilities with PDF units, operational planners and unit commanders took advantage of increased security measures. The The post-invasion civil-military operation designed to stabilize the situation, support the U.S.-installed government, and restore basic services was originally planned as "Operation Blind Logic", but was renamed "Operation Promote Liberty" by the Pentagon on the eve of the invasion.The original operation, in which U.S. troops were deployed to Panama in early 1989, was called "Operation Nimrod Dancer".The US government invoked self-defense as legal justification for its invasion of Panama.Independent experts and observers have concluded that the US invasion of Panama also exceeded the authority of the president under the US Constitution because Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants the power to declare war solely to the Congress, not to the president.The invasion of Panama provoked international outrage. In 1986, U.S. President The next day, four U.S. military personnel were stopped at a roadblock around 9:00 p.m. outside PDF headquarters in the The official U.S. justification for the invasion was articulated by President George H. W. Bush on the morning of 20 December 1989, a few hours after the start of the operation. The goal was to restore the democratically elected government of Guillermo Endara and arrest Noriega on drug trafficking charges. The United States had maintained numerous military bases and a substantial garrison throughout the Noriega had sided with the U.S. rather than the USSR in Central America, notably in sabotaging the forces of the In the mid-1980s, relations between Noriega and the United States began to deteriorate. Women did not serve in direct combat roles or combat arms units, but they did serve as military police, truck drivers, helicopter pilots, and in other logistical roles.Operation plans directed against Panama evolved from plans designed to defend the Panama Canal. Code-named Aca,!A"Sand FleaAca,!A?, these training exercises represented deliberate demonstrations of force aimed at securing American facilities. 3 (1), pp. The 193rd Infantry Brigade, the primary combat unit stationed near Panama City, increased the number of live-fire exercises and MOUT training.