Portuguese Marine Corps

Portuguese Marine Corps
Corpo de Fuzileiros

Coat of arms of the Portuguese Marine Corps.
Founded 1618
Country Portugal Portugal
Branch Navy
Type Marines
Role Amphibious warfare, Special operations
Garrison/HQ Lisbon Naval Base
Nickname(s) Fuzos
Motto Braço às armas feito (Arm made for weapons).
Portuguese Marines in white dress uniforme, parading in the 2007 Bastille Day Military Parade in Paris
Portuguese Marines boarding team, after being launched from a Portuguese Navy Lynx helicopter

The Portuguese Marine Corps (Portuguese: Corpo de Fuzileiros, meaning literally "Corps of Fusiliers") is the special operations force of the Portuguese Navy. The Corps is specialised in amphibious warfare, coastal reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare, raids, maritime interdiction and boarding operations. It is an elite light infantry force, operating as a rapid-reaction force.

Initial training

Initial training to become an enlisted fuzileiro (marine) lasts about 42 weeks. The initial training is conducted at the Escola de Fuzileiros in Vale de Zebro. The training is physically and mentally rigorous and demanding; 15% to 35% of the initial trainees pass, and become Fuzileiros. They receive a dark blue beret and are assigned to operational units. The fuzileiros in training are constantly under stress and pressure from instructors leaving them no respite. All activities are timed and scored: marching several tens of kilometers with equipment and weapon, obstacle course, navigation at night on the ground. The training is punctuated by firearms training and special combat techniques, rappelling and climbing, boating, basic demolitions, and hand-to-hand combat.The course culminates in a 60km group march which must be completed in a set time.

Organization

The Marine Corps is made up of an administrative command – Comando do Corpo de Fuzileiros (Marine Corps Command); an instruction unit – Escola de Fuzileiros (Marines School); and a base unit – Base de Fuzileiros (Marines Base). The operational units of the Marines, stationed at the Marines Base, are:

Based at the Marines School is the Unidade de Meios de Desembarque (Landing Assets Unit).

When needed, several elements of the operational units can organize themselves into a task-force for amphibious assaults called Batalhão Ligeiro de Desembarque (Landing Light Battalion).

History

The Portuguese Marines (Portuguese: Fuzileiros) have their direct origin in the oldest permanent military unit of Portugal, the Regiment of the Navy of the Crown of Portugal (Terço da Armada da Coroa de Portugal), created in 1618. However, since 1585, specialized troops existed to provide artillery and riflemen in the Portuguese warships. The Regiment of the Navy was soon considered an elite unit. As the King of Portugal did not have a royal guard, this Regiment was also used in the role of bodyguard of the Monarchs.

In 18th century, a second regiment of naval infantry was created. In 1791, a Regiment of Naval Artillery was added to the force.

In 1797, in the reign of Queen Maria I, all the regiments of the Navy were merged and integrated into the new Royal Brigade of the Navy (Brigada Real da Marinha), which included three divisions: Fusiliers (fuzileiros), Artillerymen (artilheiros) and Artificers (artifices e lastradores). In 1807, the Brigade was reorganized, going to be made of three battalions, all of them of Artillerymen.

In 1808, the Army of Napoleon invaded and occupied Portugal. In order not to be captured and, so, to maintain secure the Portuguese sovereignty, the Royal Family and most of the Court relocated to the Portuguese colony of Brazil, on board of the Portuguese fleet and accompanied by the majority of the Royal Brigade of the Navy. This contingent of the Brigade continued to remain in Brazil, even after its independence in 1822, given origin to what is now the Brazilian Marine Corps. In 1809, a force of the Brigade in Brazil participated in the Portuguese conquest of French Guiana.

With most of the original force of the Brigade remaining in Brazil, in 1822 it started to be reconstituted in Portugal. In 1823, it was organized in two battalions.

During the Portuguese Civil War (1828-1834), the Royal Brigade of the Navy aligned on the side of the Miguelite forces. On the opposite side however, the Liberals created a Battalion of the Navy (Batalhão de Marinha). In 1832, the Liberal Battalion of the Navy was augmented and transformed in a Regiment (Regimento da Armada) with four battalions.

In 1836, already after the end of the Civil War, the Royal Brigade of the Navy was extinguished. It was replaced by the new Naval Battalion (Batalhão Naval) created in 1837.

In each of the ships' crews of the Portuguese Navy, only the officers and the members of the embarked detachments of the Naval Battalion (and previously of the former Royal Brigade of the Navy) were military personnel, with the sailors being civilians. The different status of the several parts of the crews always created issues.

In 1851, the decision was taken to militarize the sailors, with the creation of the Corps of Military Seamen (Corpo de Marinheiros Militares). This Corps started to be responsible for the providing of the ships' crews. It was organized in 22 crew companies, each one subdivided in two half-companies, plus a depot company. Each of these companies and half companies was intended to constitute the crew of a ship, in rotation. All seamen of the Corps received a general training that included seamanship, artillery, infantry, bladed weapon combat, boarding and amphibious landing. In each company, a number of seamen received an advanced training in naval artillery, constituting its squad or artillerymen. This military training meant that the seamen were able to assume the responsibility to perform also the role of naval infantry when needed, what made unnecessary the existence of the Naval Battalion, which was then dissolved.

From this date, whenever there was a need to perform an amphibious operation, landing detachments were constituted with seamen taken from the ships' crews. For the colonial campaigns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and for the World War I, larger naval infantry forces and naval battalions were organized in the Corps of Seamen itself.

Sailors, of one the naval infantry forces that participated in the Portuguese colonial expeditions of 19th and early 20th centuries, ready to embark for Angola in 1907

In 1924, a permanent unit of naval infantry was again created, this being the new Brigade of the Naval Guard (Brigada da Guarda Naval). However, it ceased to exist in 1934, with the role of naval infantry being again entirely assumed by the regular seamen when needed.

The naval infantry only reappeared as permanent force, from 1961, with the beginning of the Colonial War. The detachments of special marines (DFE, destacamentos de fuzileiros especiais) were created for amphibious assault missions of and the companies of marines (CF, companhias de fuzileiros) were created for patrolling and for the defense of naval ships and installations. During this war, and up to 1975, more than 14,000 marines fought in Portuguese Guinea, Portuguese Angola and Portuguese Mozambique.

Until 1975, a unified Marine Corps Command did not exist, being that diverse DFE and CF were separate units, depending from the several naval and maritime defense commands of the areas where they operated. In this year, the Marine Corps (Corpo de Fuzileiros) was created, of which all had started to be dependents the units of riflemen, giving a substantial autonomy to that force.

Equipment

Light weapons:

and more.

Mortars:

Anti-Tank/Anti-Aircraft weapons:

Amphibians:

Vehicles

See also

External links


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