Thirty-eight years after leaving Panama, Troy Locks found himself driving up Semaphore Hill once again. As the road wound through the rainforest toward the Canopy Tower, memories of long nights, tropical wildlife, and a very different Panama began to return. What is now a world-renowned birding destination was once a place where Troy spent part of his military service as a young U.S. Air Force security policeman.
Troy joined the U.S. Airforce in 1985, at the young age of 18. In 1988, when he was 21, Troy arrived in Panama and stayed for about three months on a temporary assignment. At the time, the Tower served as a radar station, and he was one of the security officers responsible for protecting the facility during the night. For six days in a row, then with 3 days free, he and another officer would make the journey from Albrook Air Force Station in Panama City (located where Albrook Mall is today) up the hill and spend the night patrolling the compound while two radar operators, on staff at all times, monitored aircraft movements from inside the dome.
For a young man from rural Idaho, the rainforest was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Between security rounds, Troy encountered sloths, monkeys, boa constrictors, giant spiders, spectacular moths, and countless other creatures that emerged after dark. The forest was always alive, and even routine nights on duty often brought unexpected wildlife encounter. Some incredible stories came to mind when Troy found himself at the Tower that brought a smile to his face. His sergeant partner was an expert rappeler, and together they cooperated in the idea of installing ropes and rappel seats and climbing to the top of the Tower dome.
They did so at night and had the greatest adventure, just to find out during the next day that everyone could see the rappel ropes installed in the dome and figure out their shenanigans. Another time, they found a huge boa constrictor they wanted to show the others, so they kept it in a container in a closed room for the night and planned to release it the next day, just to find out the smart snake released itself into the wild before anyone else could find it.
Returning after nearly four decades, Troy was struck by how familiar the forest still felt. While the radar equipment, which was described by Troy as a huge pedestal extending all the way from the first floor to a rotating periscope inside today’s yellow dome, is long gone, the Tower in its new life draws people from around the world—now not to track aircraft, but to observe the extraordinary birds and wildlife of Panama. Standing atop the hill once again, he was able to reconnect with a place that had remained vivid in his memory—and with memories of the close teamwork he shared with his colleagues during those long nights at the Tower, a spirit of partnership that, in his view, is often missing from modern corporate jobs.
We are grateful to Troy for returning to share his stories and memories with us after so much time. His visit was a wonderful reminder of the many lives connected to the history of the Canopy Tower. Whether you are visiting Panama for the first time or returning to relive old memories of your own, we invite you to experience the Canopy Tower, the Canopy Lodge, and the Canopy Camp with the Canopy Family.