Panama Canal Division

The Panama Canal Division was a unit of the United States Army, established in order to ensure the United States could adequately defend the Canal Zone in Panama. When it was authorized in 1920, similar divisions were organized to defend Hawaii and the Philippines. The division was organized in 1921, and active until 1932.[1][2]

Panama Canal Division
Active	1921–1932
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Part of	Panama Canal Department

Its initial composition included the 19th Infantry Brigade commanding the (14th and 65th Infantry Regiments, of which the 65th was stationed in Puerto Rico) and the 20th Infantry Brigade commanding the (33rd and 42nd Infantry Regiments).[1] The two brigades appear to have been active until 1927.[3]

Later, however, the commander of the Panama Canal Department, Major General Preston Brown, determined that the defense of Panama would be better served by command groups representing the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1932, the Army inactivated the division, keeping its Tables of Organization on file should the need arise to reactivate it. It never has.[1]

Commanding generals

Panama Canal Division

• BG Edwin B. Babbitt: July 3, 1921 – October 10, 1921
• MG Samuel D. Sturgis Jr.: October 10, 1921 – April 17, 1923
• MG Edwin B. Babbitt: April 17, 1923 – September 15, 1923
• MG William Lassiter: October 1923 – September 19, 1924
• BG Fox Conner: September 19, 1924 – January 1925
• MG Charles H. Martin: January 23, 1925 – October 10, 1926
• MG William S. Graves: December 13, 1926 – October 1, 1927
• MG Malin Craig: October 13, 1927 – March 31, 1928
• MG George LeRoy Irwin: April 1, 1928 – December 21, 1930
• BG Charles DuVal Roberts: December 21, 1930 – April 3, 1931
• BG Harold B. Fiske: April 3, 1931 – April 15, 1932

Panama Mobile Force

• MG Ben Lear: February 16, 1940 – September 20, 1940
• MG William E. Prosser: September 21, 1940 – March 1942
• MG Robert H. Lewis: March 1942 – December 21, 1942
• MG Harry C. Ingles: December 22, 1942 - February 1943
• BG Jesse C. Drain: February 1943 - April 2, 1943
• MG Phillip E. Gallagher: September 3, 1944 – April 1, 1945
• BG Thomas J. Camp

See also

• Divisions of the United States Army
• List of former United States military installations in Panama

References

1. Wilson, John B. (1997). Maneuver and Firepower: The Evolution of Divisions and Separate Brigades. Washington, DC: Center of Military History.
2. http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/OrderOfBattle/OrderofBattle1.pdf US Army Order of Battle 1919-1940 p288
3. McGrath, 'The Brigade,' p.166
4. http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/OrderOfBattle/OrderofBattle1.pdf US Army Order of Battle 1919-1940 p285