Portuguese Army

The Portuguese Army (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.

Central structure
The Portuguese Army is led by the Army Chief of Staff and includes:
 * 1) Army Staff ;
 * 2) Functional Commands:
 * 3) * Training and Doctrine Command
 * 4) * Logistic Command
 * 5) * Personnel Command
 * 6) * Operational Command
 * 7) Operational Formations and Military Zones:
 * 8) * Mechanized Brigade
 * 9) * Rapid Reaction Brigade
 * 10) * Intervention Brigade
 * 11) * Azores Military Zone
 * 12) * Madeira Military Zone
 * 13) Main Military Schools:
 * 14) * Military Academy
 * 15) * Army Sergeant School
 * 16) * School of the Military Medical Service
 * 17) * 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) * School of Cavalry at Abrantes,
 * 3) * 2nd Lancers Regiment (Army Military Police Unit) at Lisbon
 * 4) * 3rd Cavalry Regiment at Estremoz
 * 5) * Cavalry Barracks (former 4th Cavalry Regiment) at Santa Margarida Military Camp
 * 6) * 6th Cavalry Regiment at Braga
 * 7) Artillery:
 * 8) * School of Artillery at Vendas Novas,
 * 9) * 1st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment at Queluz
 * 10) * 4th Artillery Regiment at Leiria
 * 11) * 5th Artillery Regiment at Vila Nova de Gaia
 * 12) Infantry:
 * 13) * School of Infantry at Mafra
 * 14) * 1st Infantry Regiment at Tavira
 * 15) * 3rd Infantry Regiment at Beja
 * 16) * 10th Infantry Regiment at Aveiro
 * 17) * 13th Infantry Regiment at Vila Real
 * 18) * 14th Infantry Regiment at Viseu
 * 19) * 15th Infantry Regiment at Tomar
 * 20) * 19th Infantry Regiment at Chaves
 * 21) Engineers:
 * 22) * School of Engineers at Tancos
 * 23) * 1st Engineers Regiment at Lisbon
 * 24) * 3rd Engineers Regiment at Espinho
 * 25) Communications:
 * 26) * School of Communications at Oporto
 * 27) * Communications Regiment at Lisbon
 * 28) Logistical Services:
 * 29) * School of Services at Póvoa de Varzim
 * 30) * Transportation Regiment at Lisbon
 * 31) * Material Maintenance Regiment at Entroncamento
 * 32) Mixed:
 * 33) * Special Operations Troops Centre at Lamego
 * 34) * Commando Troops Center at Carregueira
 * 35) * Parachute Troops School at Tancos
 * 36) * Military Center of Electronics at Paço de Arcos
 * 37) * 1st Garrison Regiment at Angra do Heroismo
 * 38) * 2nd Garrison Regiment at Ponta Delgada
 * 39) * 3rd Garrison Regiment at Funchal
 * 40) * Intelligence and Military Security Center at Porto Brandão
 * 41) * Army Light Aviation Unit at Tancos

Tactical Vehicles

 * 🇯🇵 Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 called m/98
 * Land Rover Defender'90 TDI 4x4
 * 🇯🇵 Mitsubishi L2004x4
 * 🇵🇹 UMM Alter 4x4

Heavy Vehicles

 * 🇸🇪 Volvo D Truck 40 ton 4x2
 * 🇳🇱 DAF FTT Truck 38 ton 6x4
 * 🇮🇹 Iveco Truck
 * 🇩🇪 Unimog Truck

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 (reactivated, may also be used by the School of Artillery for no-live fire training)
 * 🇺🇸 155mm M109A5 (18) and M109A4

Anti-Air Artillery

 * 🇺🇸 Stinger surface-to-air missile
 * 🇺🇸 M48A2E1 Chaparral m/90 surface-to-air missile system
 * 🇩🇪 Double 20mm Reinmetall Rh-202 m/81 anti-aircraft gun
 * 🇸🇪 Bofors 40 mm gun
 * 🇺🇸 M163 Vulcan SPAAG

Others

 * PASGT
 * DPM Camouflage
 * Precision Lightweight GPS Receiver (AN/PSN-11 PLGR)
 * AN/PVS-5B Night Googles
 * AN/MPQ-49B Radar
 * AN/PPS-5B Radar