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33rd Infantry

Regimental Combat Team (RCT)

Jungle Expert

Fort Sherman, Panama

Defenders of the Panama Canal

Bush Runners of the GREENHELL

Bronze Colored

Army Challenge Coin

Condition: Used, and in good shape. Please see pictures.

This coin is 1 5/8 inches in diameter with a smooth edge. This is a highly sought after challenge coin and very difficult to obtain.

NOTE 1: We know of 5 versions of this challenge coin: (1) Gold Plated, (2) Silver Plated, (3) Bronze, (4) Antique Silver Color, and (5) Bronze TF 2-162 Oregon.

NOTE 2: The 33rd Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT) is not one of the typical 5 versions, and is a very hard to find challenge coin.

After the decommissioning of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps the forested area was used by the United States Army South (USARSO) Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC). JOTC was founded in 1951 to train both US and allied Central American forces in jungle warfare, with an enrollment of about 9,000 a year. The JOTC also taught a 10-day Air Crew Survival Course, open to all branches of service, and a four-week Engineer Jungle Warfare Course. Upon completion of the course the Jungle expert badge or patch was awarded.

Between 1966 and 1979 1160 sounding rockets with maximum flight altitudes of 99 kilometres were launched at Fort Sherman.^[9]

(REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Sherman)

Jungle Expert

Several tabs are widely worn unofficially by members of the U.S. Army. Often these tabs were worn on the underside of pocket flaps so as not to violate uniform regulations. Such tabs also appear on stickers, shirts, hats, etc. that soldiers would wear with civilian attire. These include tabs containing the words "SNIPER", "AIR ASSAULT", "FISTER", "SCOUT", and "RECON" or "RECONDO." The "SAPPER" tab was one of these unofficial tabs until 2004 when it became an official special skill badge/tab of the U.S. Army.

The Jungle Expert Patch was often worn by graduates of the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) until the school became inactive in 1999. The patch may have been authorized for wear by soldiers assigned to U.S. Army South who graduate from JOTC but the patch was never recognized Army wide; much like the quasi-official status the Cavalry Stetson enjoys today.

In 2014, the JOTC was reopened in Hawaii and the Jungle Expert Patch was revitalized as a tab which is authorized for wear by 25th Infantry Division soldiers who complete the course while soldiers assigned to other units receive the tab as a souvenir.^[31]^[32]

(REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabs_of_the_United_States_Army)

NOTE 3: Never personally given any of the coins. They are from either purchases of collections or from professional makers of military challenge coins. All coins are guaranteed to be in excellent condition unless otherwise specified above.

The accepted payments are: PAYPAL and please contact seller for other methods of accepted payment, which you may have used in past please contact me through the eBay messaging system.

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