Quote Originally Posted by ABNAK View Post
Yep, 3 years in Panama in an Infantry unit. It is an inhospitable environment for sure. Everything either wants to sting, bite, or kill you! NEVER just plop down on the ground.....poke around with the barrel of your rifle or a stick to ensure you're not sitting on anything that might do one of the previous things!

You're right, movement is a bitch. Usually there was a point man who would be hacking a narrow trail for the others to follow. Had to rotate that guy out every so often as the heat and humidity would wear your ass out quick. Of course this is for an Infantry unit moving through a given area, not a small recon team who relied on stealth for their survival, as that hacking was s-l-o-w and noisy. Those sneaky-petes generally picked their way (slowly) through the vegetation, making as little noise as possible.
Yup, extremely valid reasons that the Army put the schools there. If anyone has ever seen the Darien Gap, it's mind blowing.