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Portuguese Army

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Portuguese Army
Exército Português
War flag of the Portuguese Army
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
EngagementsReconquista
1383–1385 Crisis
War of the Castilian Succession
Persia–Portugal war
Ethiopian-Adal War
Dutch–Portuguese War
Turkish-Portuguese Wars
War of the Portuguese Succession
Malayan-Portuguese War
Portuguese Restoration War
War of the Spanish Succession
Seven Years' War
French Revolutionary Wars
War of the Oranges
Peninsular War
Luso-Brazilian invasion
Brazilian War of Independence
Liberal Wars
First Carlist War
World War I
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]
class=notpageimage|
Military units and bases in Portugal
The Azores and Madeira (off-map to west) each have regiment-sized garrisons.
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. Functional Commands:
    • Training and Doctrine Command
    • Logistical Command
    • Personnel Command
    • Operational Command
  3. Operational Formations and Military Zones:
  4. Main Military Schools:
    • Military Academy
    • Army Sergeant School
    • School of the Military Medical Service
    • Army Polytechnical School

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:
    • School of Infantry at Mafra
    • 1st Infantry Regiment at Tavira
    • 3rd Infantry Regiment at Beja
    • 8th Infantry Regiment at Elvas (Disbanded: Replaced by a Military Museum)
    • 10th Infantry Regiment at Aveiro
    • 13th Infantry Regiment at Vila Real
    • 14th Infantry Regiment at Viseu
    • 15th Infantry Regiment at Tomar
    • 19th Infantry Regiment at Chaves
  4. Engineers:
    • School of Engineers at Tancos
    • 1st Engineers Regiment at Lisbon
    • 3rd Engineers Regiment at Espinho
  5. Communications:
    • School of Communications at Oporto
    • Communications Regiment at Lisbon
  6. Logistical Services:
  7. Mixed:

Ranks

General officers
Marechal do Exército
Marshal of the Army 		General
General 		Tenente-general
Lieutenant-general 		Major-general
Major-general 		Brigadeiro-general
Brigadier-general
OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6
Field officers
Coronel
Colonel 		Tenente-coronel
Lieutenant-colonel 		Major
Major
OF-5 OF-4 OF-3
Company officers
Capitão
Captain 		Tenente
Lieutenant 		Alferes
Ensign 		Aspirante a oficial
Officer candidate
OF-2 OF-1 OF-1 OF-D
Non-commissioned officers
Sargento-mor
Sergeant-major 		Sargento-chefe
Chief Master Sergeant 		Sargento-ajudante
Master sergeant 		Primeiro-sargento
First sergeant 		Segundo-sargento
Second sergeant 		Furriel
Quartermaster 		Segundo-furriel
Second quartermaster
OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-5 OR-5
Enlisted
Cabo-adjunto
Attached corporal 		Primeiro-cabo
First corporal 		Segundo-cabo
Second corporal 		Soldado
Soldier
OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
No insignia

Equipment

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.

Firearms

Handguns

Rifles and Carbines

Sub-machineguns

Shotguns

Light machine guns/General-purpose machine guns

Heavy machineguns

Grenade Launchers

Mortars

Missile Launchers

Tanks

Artillery

  • 105mm L118 Light Gun (21)
  • 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 (18) and M109A4 (??)

Anti-Air Artillery

Tactical Vehicles

Heavy Vehicles

Armour

Helicopters

  • NHI NH90 TTH (cancelled, as of June 2012)

Others

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exército Português.

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portuguese_Army&oldid=500191722"