The Portuguese Army () is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its origins going back to the 12th century, it can be considered one of the oldest active armies in the world.
The Portuguese Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEME), a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for the operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Ministry of National Defense for all other matters. The CEME is the only officer in the Army with the rank of General (Four-star rank).
Presently, the Portuguese Army is an entirely professional force made of career personnel (officers and NCOs) and of volunteer personnel (officers, NCOs and enlisted ranks). Until the early 1990s, conscripts constituted the bulk of the Army personnel, with a cadre of career officers and NCOs responsible for their training. Conscription was however gradually reduced since the middle 1990s, until being finally formally abolished in 2004.
As 2014, the Portuguese Army employed 5,667 career personnel and 10,444 volunteers, this representing a total of 16,111 military personnel. Of the total military personnel, 2,669 were officers, 3,917 were NCOs and 9,595 were other ranks. Further, the Army also included 1,897 civilian employees.
Current deployments National deployed forces The national deployed forces (Forças Nacionais Destacadas or FND) are units or teams deployed by the Portuguese Armed Forces in foreign missions, mostly in the scope of NATO, the United Nations or the European Union. Currently, the Portuguese Army maintains forces or elements deployed in the following international missions:
NATO NATO – tailored Forward Presence (tFP) in Romania NATO – enhanced Vigilance Activity (eVA) in Romania Multi-National Brigade Slovakia (MNBde SVK) in Slovakia Kosovo Force (KFOR) in Kosovo NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) in Iraq NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) in Germany
EU EUTM RCA in Central African Republic EUTM-Somalia in Somalia European Union Military Assistance Mozambique (EUMAM MOZ) in Mozambique European Union Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (EUMAM-UA) in Poland and in Germany Operation ATALANTA in Spain
UN Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations unies pour la stabilisation en Centrafrique MINUSCA in the Central African Republic United Nations Verification (UMV) Mission in Colombia
Bilateral/Multilateral Coalition of the Willing (CoW) in France
Technical-military cooperation The technical-military cooperation (Cooperação Técnico-Militar or CTM, currently designated as "Cooperação no Domínio da Defesa" or CDD) the military missions permanently maintained by Portugal in several members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries to train and support their national armed forces. Currently, the Portuguese Army maintains elements deployed in the following CTM missions: CDD ANG Angola CDD CPV Cape Verde CDD GNB Guinea-Bissau CDD MOZ Mozambique CDD STP São Tomé and Príncipe CDD TLS Timor-Leste
History
The Portuguese Army has a long history, directly connected to the history of Portugal since its early beginnings.
Middle Ages The Portuguese Army has its remote origins in the military forces of the County of Portugal that allowed its ruler, Afonso Henriques, to obtain its independence from the Kingdom of León and to enlarge its territory in the 12th century. The victory of the Portuguese forces in the Battle of São Mamede, on 24 June 1128, is considered the seminal event for the foundation of an independent Portugal, leading to Afonso Henriques to style himself as Prince.
The Portuguese forces were also involved in the Reconquista, successively advancing south to reconquer territories occupied by the Moors and expand the territory of Portugal. On 25 July 1139, the Portuguese troops obtain a spectacular victory over five Moorish kings in the Battle of Ourique, after its end proclaiming Afonso Henriques as King of the Portuguese.
Under the Treaty of Zamora, signed on 5 October 1143, Portugal was officially recognized as an independent Kingdom.
In 1147, an important step in the Reconquista is done, with the conquest of the city of Lisbon to the moors. The Portuguese part of the Reconquista would finally come to an end in 1249, with the complete recapture of the Algarve.
The Portuguese ground forces of that time were initially formed by military contingents provided by the landlords (lords of the manors and of the Church), called the mesnadas. Later, to these were added the knights of the military orders (initially the Knights Templars and later also the knights of the Hospital, of Saint James of the Sword and of Aviz) and the knights of the border towns. These contingents were collectively referred as the Hoste, which was under the supreme command of the Monarch, but who often delegated his command in the Alferes-Mor (High Standard-bearer). These forces also included bands of irregular riders (latrones) of some warlords, which attacked the moor fortresses by surprise, usually taken advante of the night or of the bad weather. Occasionally, for certain military campaigns, like the siege of Lisbon, the Portuguese forces were reinforced by Crusaders from the Northern Europe, who happened to be passing by the Portuguese coasts, on their way to the Holy Land. With the resettling of the territories conquered to the Moors and the establishment of new towns and municipalities, these increased their contribution of municipal contingents of horse (cavaleiros vilãos) and foot troops. The municipal military service was regulated, with the establishment of a defensive service (apelido), an offensive service (fossado) and the possibility of the replacement of the presential military service by the payment of special taxes (fossadeira).
In the 14th century, the Portuguese troops defeated Castilian invaders, obtaining a definitive victory in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. With the independence guaranteed, Portugal then began its worldwide overseas expansion, starting by the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa in 1415.
Organization of the Portuguese military developed during the Middle Ages, leading to a more complex structure and the consequent creation of new command offices. Thus, in 1383, the office of Constable of Portugal was created, replacing the Alferes-Mor as the head of the military. The Constable was assisted by the Marshal of Portugal.
Other Portuguese important military offices that existed were those of fronteiro-mor (theatre commander of the forces operating in a province), of Coudel-Mor (superintendent of the cavalry) and of Anadel-Mor (superintendent of the shooters). The Anadel-Mor, by himself, superintended the commanders (anadéis) of the king's crossbowmen, of the horse crossbowmen and of the municipal crossbowmen.
Overseas expansion With the start of the maritime expansion of Portugal in the 15th century, the country's land forces focused on overseas campaigns intended to conquer new territories in Africa, Asia and the Americas, that would form the Portuguese Empire. Among these many campaigns were the wars for the control of Morocco, the wars with the Ottoman Empire for the control of India and the Indian Ocean, the war with the Persian Empire for the control of the Persian Gulf and participation in the Abyssinian–Adal war in support of the Ethiopian Empire. The role of the ground forces was more important in the campaigns of Morocco, that were fought mainly on land. A great part of the other overseas campaigns occurred at sea and so were led by the Portuguese Navy, but the ground forces had also an important role as boarding forces during naval battles and as landing forces in amphibious operations. In Europe, Portuguese ground forces engaged in the War of the Castilian Succession.
Reflecting the importance of the artillery, in 1449, the role of Vedor-Mor da Artilharia (Superintendent of the Artillery) is established by King Afonso V, with the responsibility for the procurement and conservation of the artillery.
After a number of previous failed attempts, King Sebastian established the foundations of a standing army, with the creation of the Ordenanças in 1570. The Ordenanças was a militia-type territorial organization aimed to provide a military framework for the Portuguese population and to create a nationwide standardized system of military training and mobilization. It was organized into 250-man companies, each headed by a captain, assisted by an alferes (ensign) and a sergeant. The several Ordenanças companies of a city, town or municipality were grouped into captaincies, each headed by a captain-major, assisted by a sergeant-major. The Ordenanças system would cover virtually all available manpower of Portugal and become part of the basis of the Portuguese military organization until the 19th century. Its efficiency would soon be evidenced by its important contribution to the raising of the expeditionary army that would fight the 1578 Moroccan campaign.
During the reign of Sebastian, Portuguese land forces also adopted the terço (modeled after the Spanish tercio) as its main infantry formation. In 1578, for the Moroccan campaign, four provincial terços were raised through the Ordenanças system, another one was drawn from young nobles volunteers and a further three were made up of foreign mercenaries. Each of these terços was made of 12 companies and around 3000 men (pikemen, arquebusiers and musketeers), under the command of a colonel. In respect of the Portuguese cavalry of the time, it included the acorbetados (heavy armored cavalry) and the ginetes (light cavalry).
The advanced organization of the Portuguese forces, however, was not sufficient to avoid the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir with the death of the young and childless King Sebastian. His death soon led to the takeover of the Portuguese Crown by Philip II of Spain in 1580, consolidated after the defeat of the Portuguese resistance, led by António of Portugal, in the War of the Portuguese Succession. These events originated the 60-year-long Iberian Union, period in which the interests of Portugal became subordinated to those of Spain, causing a sharp decline in its economical, political and social might.
Restoration War With Portugal subject to the Spanish kings, the early 17th century was a period of neglect of the Portuguese military. Portuguese forces were mobilized to fight for Spain in its campaigns in several theatres. By contrast, almost no military support was received from Spain for the defense of the Portuguese Empire, which came under successive attacks by Spain's enemies, in particular the English and the Dutch. As a result, Portugal suffered a series of military set backs, losing several territories in Africa, in Asia and in America.
On 1December 1640, the Portuguese revolted and restored their full independence, under the leadership of the Duke of Braganza, who was crowned as King John IV of Portugal. The Portuguese Restoration War then started, with the Portuguese Army defeating the Spanish Army in a series of military campaigns, until achieving the final victory in 1668. At the same time, the Portuguese defeated the Dutch in a series of overseas campaigns, recovering most of its territories in Africa and South America.