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Portuguese Army

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Portuguese Army
Exército Português
Active1139 — current
CountryPortugal
TypeArmy
RoleLand Force
Size24,000
Part ofPortuguese Armed Forces
PatronAfonso I of Portugal
Motto(s)Em perigos e guerras esforçados
In dangers and wars strengthened
EngagementsSecond Crusade
Battle of Atoleiros
Battle of Trancoso
Battle of Aljubarrota
Ethiopian-Adal War
Dutch–Portuguese War
Turkish-Portuguese Wars
Portuguese Restoration War
Nine Years' War
War of the Spanish Succession
Seven Years' War
War of the Oranges
Peninsular War
World War I
-Battle of La Lys
Spanish Civil War
Battle of Timor
Portuguese-Indian War (1961)
Portuguese Colonial War
IFOR
SFOR
EUFOR
KFOR
Afghanistan War
Peacekeaping Missions
-Angola
-Bosnia
-Croatia
-Macedonia
-Western Sahara
-Georgia
-Lebanon
Commanders
Army Chief of StaffGeneral José Luís Pinto Ramalho [1]
Soldier of the famous Portuguese Army Caçadores elite light infantry in the Peninsular War
Portuguese Army troops heading for Angola, during World War I.
Portuguese Army troops in the jungle, during the 1960's and 1970's Colonial Wars in Africa.
Portuguese Army Chaimite armoured vehicles in Bosnia.
The Operational Structure of the Portuguese Army.

The Portuguese Army (Portuguese: Exército Português) is the ground branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in co-operation with other branches of the Portuguese military, is charged with the defence of Portugal. It is one of the oldest armies in the world, established in the 12th century.

History

The history of the Portuguese Army is directly connected to the history of Portugal.

National defence

The land forces fought for Portuguese independence against the Leonese and the Moors in the 12th century, against the Castilian invaders in the 14th century, against the Spanish Habsburgs in the 17th century, and against French invaders in the Peninsular War in the 19th century. Here they were re-trained by the British (under the direction of Lieutenant General William Carr Beresford). Their infantry and artillery went on to perform brilliantly up until the final French capitulation in 1814.

Foreign campaigns

Since the 15th century, the land forces have also participated in Portuguese foreign and overseas campaigns — in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, and Europe. In the 20th century, the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps participated in World War I on the side of the Allies in the European western front and Africa.

Colonial War

The army participated in colonial war from 1961 to 1974, in Angola, Goa, Mozambique, Portuguese Guinea and Cape Verde. At the other oversees possessions, East Timor and São Tomé and Príncipe, there was a military presence but no guerrilla organizations. In 1961, the isolated and relatively small Portuguese Army suffered a defeat against a largely superior Indian Army in the colony of Portuguese India, which was subsequently lost to the Union of India in the same invasion. The counterinsurgency campaigns in Africa had various degrees of success ranging from almost victory in Angola to total and conventional war in Portuguese Guinea. This war ended after the Carnation Revolution military coup of April 1974 in Lisbon and subsequently independence of the colonies.

European/NATO focus

After the independence of the colonies and the normalization of Portuguese political affairs the Portuguese army returned to the barracks and began the process of changing from an oversized colonial and counter-insurgency army to a conventional European army, including drastic personnel reduction, disbanding of some units, acquisition of new arms and equipment, reorganizing units and roles, fielding new headquarters and becoming fully professional. These took several decades and the defined purposes and roles have somehow changed due to external causes like the end of the Cold War as well internal causes like available budget, political changes and the acceptance and desires of the Portuguese people regarding its armed forces.

Peace missions

In the 21st century, the Portuguese Army has participated in several peace missions, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, East-Timor, and Afghanistan — where it has a Comandos company deployed. In December 2005, a Portuguese commando died in an incident in Afghanistan when a bomb trap was detonated.

Order of battle

Central structure

The Portuguese Army is led by the Army Chief of Staff and includes:

  1. Army Staff[2];
  2. Functional Commands:
    • Training and Doctrine Command[3],
    • Logistical Command[4],
    • Personnel Command[5];
    • Operational Command[6];
  3. Operational Formations and Military Zones:
  4. Main Military Schools:

Base units

The Portuguese Army Base Structure Units work as administrative bases responsible for the training and organization of
the operational units of the army's formations, military zones and general support forces. For historical reasons most of the base units are called regiments and are associated with an arm of service. By arm of service, these units are:

  1. Cavalry:
  2. Artillery:
  3. Infantry:
  4. Engineers:
  5. Communications:
  6. Logistical Services:
  7. Mixed:

Ranks

Officers

  • Marechal (Marshall) [Honourific]
  • General
  • Tenente-General (Lieutenant-General)
  • Major-General
  • Brigadeiro-General (Brigadier-General)
  • Coronel (Colonel)
  • Tenente-Coronel (Lieutenant-Colonel)
  • Major
  • Capitão (Capitain)
  • Tenente (Lieutenant)
  • Alferes (2nd Lieutenant)
  • Aspirante-a-Oficial
  • Soldado Cadete (Officer Cadet)


Sergeants

  • Sargento-Mor (Sergeant Major)
  • Sargento-Chefe (Master Sergeant)
  • Sargento-Ajudante (Sergeant 1st Class)
  • 1º Sargento (Staff Sergeant)
  • 2º Sargento
  • Furriel
  • 2º Furriel
  • Soldado Instruendo


Enlisted Ranks of the Portuguese Army
(Praças)
Cabo-Adjunto
(Corporal) 		1º Cabo
(Lance-Corporal) 		2º Cabo
(PFC) 		Soldado
(Private) 		Soldado Recruta
(Recruit)
OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1 No Equivalent
No Insignia No Insignia

Equipment

The Portuguese Army is equipped with light firearms, heavy firearms, mortars, tanks, artillery, anti-air artillery, tactical vehicles, heavy vehicles, armoured vehicles, helicopters, and other equipment.

Firearms

Tanks

Artillery

  • 105mm L118 Light Gun
  • 105mm M119 Light Gun m/98
  • 105mm OTO Melara Mod 56 (discontinued, some may be used by the School of Artillery for no-live fire training, replaced by M119 Light Gun)
  • 105mm M101 (discontinued, some may be used by the School of Artillery for no-live fire training)
  • 155mm M114 (discontinued, some may be used by the School of Artillery for no-live fire training)
  • 155mm M109A5 and M109A4

Anti-Air Artillery

Tactical Vehicles

Heavy Vehicles

Armour

Helicopters

Others

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exército Português.

References

  • Jornal do Exército, official magazine
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