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Portugal Army
The army's personnel strength was estimated at about
33,000
as of late 1991. About 75 percent of army personnel were
conscripts serving a twelve-month period of service, and
10
percent were officers of both career and conscript status.
The
army was organized into four military regions (North with
headquarters at Porto, Central with headquarters at
Coimbra,
South with headquarters at Évora, and Lisbon) and two
military
zones (Madeira with headquarters at Funchal, and Azores
with
headquarters at Ponta Delgada
(see
fig. 11).
The size of the army had been drastically reduced since
1974,
when it consisted of 211,000 soldiers of all ranks, the
bulk of
whom were committed to the fighting in Africa. During the
colonial wars, elements of two divisions remained in
metropolitan
Portugal; one of these was earmarked for assignment to
NATO's
Central Region along the Rhine River, and the other was
assigned
to peninsular defense in the framework of the 1939 Iberian
Pact.
Both divisions were below 50 percent strength and were
equipped
with outmoded weapons.
Major revisions in the army structure have occurred
since the
withdrawal of troops from the colonies in 1974. Most of
the army
was organized along regimental lines. By early 1992, it
included
fifteen infantry regiments, six artillery regiments, three
cavalry regiments, two engineering regiments, one commando
regiment, a signals regiment, and a military police
regiment. The
infantry regiments normally consisted of a headquarters
battalion, an infantry battalion, and a training
battalion. New
recruits were immediately assigned to one of the
regiments, where
they received their basic training. The infantry regiments
bore
the names of communities within the military region where
they
were located. Forces in the Azores and Madeira were
designated as
Home Defense Groups, each consisting of two infantry
battalions,
one artillery battalion with antiaircraft and coastal
guns, and
support units.
The army's two most important units were the Special
Forces
Brigade and the First Composite Brigade committed to NATO.
Unlike
other army formations which were subordinate to regional
military
commanders in the areas where they were located, these two
units
were directly subordinate to the army chief of staff. For
purposes of logistics and administration, however, the
First
Composite Brigade was under the commander of the Central
military
region.
The Special Forces Brigade, located in the Lisbon area,
was
composed of 2,000 men organized into two special forces
battalions, one infantry battalion, and a logistics
battalion.
However, some units were only earmarked for service with
the
brigade and were still carried within the regimental
structure.
The organization of the First Composite Brigade was
begun in
1976 to replace the division previously committed to NATO.
The
brigade was located at Santa Margarida, 120 kilometers
northeast
of Lisbon, and maintained at 90 percent of its authorized
strength of 5,200. Designed to conduct delaying and
defensive
operations, the brigade would come under Allied Land
Forces
Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) in periods of crisis or war. It
has
taken part in NATO exercises in northeastern Italy. Its
constituent units were one mechanized infantry battalion
with M113 armored personnel carriers, two motorized infantry
battalions, one armored battalion equipped with M-48A5
tanks, a
field artillery battalion equipped with 155mm
self-propelled
howitzers, an armored reconnaissance unit, and engineering
and
signal companies.
Beginning in 1987, the army acted to improve the combat
potential of the First Composite Brigade, particularly in
overcoming its weaknesses in antitank weaponry and
low-level air
defense. The First Composite Brigade faced problems of
transport
and supply if deployed in Italy at a distance of 2,500
kilometers
from its logistics base. Most of the brigade would be
airlifted
to its assigned position, with the heavy equipment to
follow by
sealift. Portugal did not have sufficient transport
aircraft
available to move the unit quickly, nor were there plans
to
position equipment in Italy in advance of the troops.
Newly enlisted army personnel were generally assigned
to a
unit from their own region of the country, where they also
received their basic training. After about six months of
service,
enlisted men who met educational and other requirements
could
apply to the sergeants' school for training as
noncommissioned
officers (NCOs). Senior NCOs could qualify for commissions
after
attending the Higher Military Institute.
Discharged personnel were assigned to the reserves.
Conscripts were carried on the reserve rolls until the age
of
thirty-five. There was no annual training period, although
the
call-up system was tested from time to time.
Young men aspiring for an army career could, after
completing
high school, compete for places at the Military Academy
located
near Lisbon; it had an enrollment of about 500 in 1991.
Subsequent training of officers was conducted in the
specialized
schools of the various branches of the service. Advanced
officer
training, corresponding to the Command and General Staff
School
and the Army War College of the United States Army, was
carried
out at the Institute for Higher Military Studies in
Lisbon. The
highest level of professional education, corresponding to
the
United States National Defense University, was the
National
Defense Institute. The students, senior officers of the
military,
high civil servants, and leading figures in the private
sector,
devoted half a day for one year to the program. The army
also
operated prestigious military academies at the high school
level,
primarily for the children of career officers and NCOs but
open
to children of civilian families on a restricted basis.
Most of
the students continued on to university and a civilian
career
after graduation.
The basic infantry weapon of the Portuguese army was
the
Heckler and Koch 7.62mm G-3 rifle manufactured
domestically under
a German license. Armored units were equipped with M-48A5
tanks
and M-113 armored personnel carriers from the United
States,
supplemented by wheeled armored vehicles from a variety of
sources. The principal antitank weapons were TOW
(tube-launched,
optically tracked, wire-guided) and Milan wire-guided
missiles.
In addition to a few self-propelled howitzers assigned to
the
First Composite Brigade, the army had an inventory of
towed field
guns and coastal artillery. The effort to modernize the
NATOearmarked First Composite Brigade had priority on
resources,
which meant that units with home defense missions were
equipped
with obsolete weapons. Any substantial improvement was
dependent
on assistance from the United States, which had not
supplied aid
on the scale needed. It was possible that additional
armored
equipment, modern artillery, and antitank and air defense
weapons
would become available after deactivation by the United
States
Army under the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Forces in
Europe,
although Portugal faced competing demands by other NATO
countries
(see
table 12, Appendix).
Data as of January 1993
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