USAWHC exercises new structure during PANAMAX 2026

Photo By Maj. Guillermo Muniz | FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Panamanian Comandante Aeronaval Luis Antonio De Gracia, director general of the National Aeronaval Service, delivers remarks during the opening ceremony for Exercise PANAMAX 2026 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Aug. 3, 2026. De Gracia addressed U.S. service members and multinational partners representing 13 participating nations. PANAMAX 2026 is a joint, multinational exercise focused on strengthening interoperability for the defense of the Panama Canal. During the exercise, U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command is serving as Combined Joint Task Force-Canal, tackling strategic dilemmas ranging from blocked waterways to infrastructure failures, while simultaneously overseeing tactical operations hosted in Panama across 19 partner nations. (U.S. Army photo by Maj. Guillermo Muniz)  

UNITED STATES

08.03.2026

Story by Ashley Patoka 

U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command

USAWHC exercises new structure during PANAMAX 2026

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — For the first time, U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command is employing its new four-star structure during Exercise PANAMAX 2026, which kicked off today in the United States and Panama and runs through Aug. 13.

PANAMAX is a Panamanian-hosted, U.S. Southern Command-sponsored multinational command post exercise and field training exercise that reinforces participating nations’ interoperability and strengthens their collective capacity to conduct complex multinational, all-domain operations.

“Modern security requires the ability to seamlessly communicate, integrate and command forces across vast distances," said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Philip J. Ryan, commander of Combined Joint Task Force-Canal. "By operating from distributed command nodes alongside our Panamanian hosts and multinational partners, we are proving that our collective defense network is agile, connected and ready to respond to any challenge to the canal's security.”

As part of its Fiscal Year 2026 training strategy, USAWHC is overseeing CJTF-Canal, operating from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, featuring land, air, maritime and special operations components.

PANAMAX 2026 provides participating nations an opportunity to conduct combined security and stability operations to enhance joint operations capabilities. The field training exercise focuses on a coalition response to a notional scenario, leveraging a holistic, integrated approach against simulated threats to the Panama Canal and the broader region.

Unlike past iterations, this year's exercise focuses entirely on real-world problem sets tied directly to regional security and the protection of the Panama Canal. For USAWHC, the exercise comprises two primary components:

• Stateside Operations (Fort Bragg, N.C.): Acting as CJTF-Canal, USAWHC’s main headquarters is tackling high-level strategic scenarios, integrating more than 40 personnel from 13 partner nations. Panamanian Comandante Aeronaval Luis Antonio De Gracia, director general of the National Aeronaval Service, serves as the deputy commander. Together, CJTF-Canal is working through simulated crises ranging from complex adversary attacks to critical infrastructure failures.
• Forward-Deployed Operations (Panama): Simultaneously, the USAWHC Tactical Command Post (TAC) in support of SOUTHCOM, is on the ground in Panama alongside participants from 18 partner nations, marking the command's most significant physical footprint in the country in over a decade. Alongside Panamanian partners, USAWHC is conducting hands-on crisis-response training, including hazardous materials response, counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) operations, and military working dog exercises.

From strategic oversight at home to tactical execution forward, U.S. Army Western Hemisphere Command remains trained and ready to respond across the hemisphere.

• Date Taken: 08.03.2026
• Date Posted: 08.03.2026 15:48
• Story ID: 571440
• Location: US