I was assigned as NCO in charge of USSOUTHCOM’s Current Intelligence and Indications Center. Among my duties were supervising two Air Force, two Navy and one Army noncommissioned officers, scheduling the shift roster, making sure we had high quality slides for the daily briefing of the four-star Commander in Chief, and anything else needed to keep our operations running smoothly.
The Center was inside a small mountain behind heavy steel doors. We worked with compartmented intelligence for the Carribean and Central and South America. All of our watch officers were fluent in Spanish except one, who was fluent in Portuguese (for Brazil).
Besides our classified sources, we had teletype machines for the Associated and United Press. During the coup overthrowing Panamanian President Arnulfo Arias, our teletype machines provided more up to date information than official channels.
My living quarters at Fort Clayton were overlooking the Miniflores locks. None of the quarters had heating systems which were not needed, and they had plenty of roaches. We had a cat that was a roacher rather than a mouser.
I became aware that the Army was creating Warrant Officer ranks in the intelligence analyst field, so I decided to apply. I was selected and was appointed Chief Warrant Officer-2 in stead of than Warrant Officer- 1 because I was an E8 with more than two years in grade. My boss told me to get sworn in as soon as possible because date of rank was important for officers. I did so and wound up being the first warrant officer appointed in the field— Army wide. I found out later that a ceremony for being the first appointment was planned by MI Branch for a man at Fort Bragg, which they had to cancel because I was sworn in first. Ironically that man later worked for me in Vietnam.