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Portuguese Marine Corps

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Portuguese Marine Corps
Corpo de Fuzileiros
Coat of arms of the Portuguese Marine Corps
Active1618–1851
1924–1934
1961–present
Country Portugal
Branch Portuguese Navy
TypeMarines, special operations capable
Size950 (2023)[1]
Garrison/HQLisbon Naval Base
Nickname(s)Fuzos
PatronSt. George
Motto(s)Braço às armas feito
("An arm to Arms addrest", from Os Lusíadas, Canto X, 155, v. 1)
EngagementsDutch–Portuguese War
Napoleonic Wars
World War I
Portuguese Colonial War
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1996-2004
East Timor:
International Force East Timor
United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor
United Nations Mission of Support to East Timor
East Timor 2006-Present
Guinea-Bissau 2006-Present
Mozambique:
United Nations Operation in Mozambique 1993-1994
Mozambique 2006-Present
Afghanistan 2013
Lithuania 2019-present
Commanders
Current
commander		Captain of sea and war Rogério Paulo Figueira Martins de Brito

The Portuguese Marine Corps (Portuguese: Corpo de Fuzileiros, lit. 'Corps of Fusiliers') is the special operations capable amphibious force of the Portuguese Navy.

It has roles similar to the ones of the USMC Reconnaissance Battalions and of the British Royal Marine Commandos. The Corps is specialised in air assault, amphibious warfare, anti-tank warfare, coastal reconnaissance and raiding, commando style raids, counterinsurgency, desert warfare, indirect fire support raiding, irregular warfare, ISTAR, jungle warfare, maneuver warfare, maritime interdiction, mountain warfare, providing security at naval base or shore stations, reconnaissance for gathering military intelligence, support special operations, tracking targets, urban warfare, and VBSS operations. It is an Elite Marine Commando Force, operating as a rapid-reaction force. Today's Corpo de Fuzileiros is the premier raid force. The Fuzileiros remains an all-volunteer force with an intensive screening and selection process followed by combat-focused training. Fuzileiros are resourced to maintain exceptional proficiency, experience and readiness.

History

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

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 (only the ceremonial Royal Guard of the Halberdiers), this regiment was also used in the role of bodyguard of the Monarchs.

In the 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.

Portuguese Marines in white formal dress uniform, parading in the 2007 Bastille Day Military Parade in Paris
Marines machine gun teams in position after an airmobile assault in 2015

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.

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.

1960 The Elite Navy Commandos only reappeared as permanent force in 1961. In 1960, four Portuguese Navy sailors, one Navy Officer and three Enlisted Sailors, were sent to England, where they successfully attended the British Commando Course and returned to Portugal, starting the formation of the Elite Navy Commando Force Fuzileiros. The Fuzileiros were created in 1961 as counter-guerrilla navy special forces, corresponding to the Portuguese Navy's need to have units specially adapted to this type of warfare, which it had to face within the scope of the Overseas War, which began in 1961. With the beginning of the Colonial War. Besides the Marines School (Escola de Fuzileiros), two types of operational marine units were created at that time, these being the detachments of special marines (DFE, destacamentos de fuzileiros especiais) and the companies of marines (CF, companhias de fuzileiros). While the DFE were designed to operate as Marine Raiders units, the CF were focused in the naval patrolling and in the defense of naval ships and facilities. During this war, and up to 1975, more than 14,000 marines fought in Portuguese Guinea, Angola and Mozambique.

Until 1975, a unified Marine Corps Command did not exist, with the diverse DFE and CF being 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, unifying all marine units under a single command and become Elite Commando Raid Force.

Organization

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Portuguese Marines Corps Structure

Since 2015, the Portuguese Marine Corps is organized into:

  • Marines Corps Command (Comando do Corpo de Fuzileiros);
  • Marines Corps support departments (Administrative and Financial, Operations, Resources Management and General Support);
  • Marines School (Escola de Fuzileiros)- Training Unit
  1. Landing Means Unit (Unidade de Meios de Desembarque (UMD)) - landing craft unit
  2. Boarding Platoon-VBSS (PelBoard) - naval boarding unit
  • Force Projection Unit

Includes three permanent Marine forces:

  1. 1st Marine Task Unit (FFZ1) - landing task unit[2]
    1. Combat Group Alfa (GC.A)
    2. Combat Group Bravo (GC.B)
    3. Combat Group Charlie (GC.C)
  2. 2nd Marine Task Unit (FFZ2) - landing task unit
  3. 3rd Marine Task Unit (FFZ3) - landing task unit

Constitutes a special operations maritime task unit (SOMTU).

The permanent task units of the Force Projection Unit are designed to conduct Commando Raids.

The Marine Corps elements are based at the Vale do Zebro facilities (Marines School) and the Alfeite facilitiesMarines Base.

Training

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Recruits under training in the Marines School at Vale do Zebro.

Initial training to become an enlisted Fuzileiro (marine) lasts about 42 weeks. The training is conducted at the Marines School (Escola de Fuzileiros) in Vale de Zebro. It is physically and mentally rigorous and demanding, with only 15% to 35% of the initial trainees passing and becoming Fuzileiros.

The recruits 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, land and mud obstacle courses, navigation at night on the ground. The training is punctuated by firearms training and special combat techniques, rappelling and climbing, boating, basic demolitions, communications and hand-to-hand combat.

Special Actions Detachment operators
Boarding Platoon members in a ship boarding exercise

The later stages of the course are mostly field based exercises mimicking real operations within land and amphibious theaters. This last phase puts into test what was taught and practised in the initial stages like reconnaissance patrols, assault raids, ambushes, CQB/urban operations, SERE, NBC warfare etc.

The course culminates in a 60 km group march which must be completed in a set time.

After completing their training with success, the Fuzileiros receive the dark blue beret and the course badge on an official ceremony before being assigned to operational units.

During and after the Fuzileiros Course, Fuzileiros military personnel receive training in areas as varied as:

  • Small unit Tactics
  • Basic English
  • Long-range reconnaissance patrols
  • Escape and evasion techniques
  • Inactivation of conventional explosive devices
  • Advanced First Aid
  • Demolitions, mines and traps
  • Combat Shooting
  • Driving tactical vehicles
  • IED dearmament
  • Sapper
  • Communications
  • NBC - Nuclear, Biological and Chemical
  • Surveillance and counter-surveillance of the battlefield
  • Abandonment of aircraft in immersion
  • Shooting
  • Hand-to-hand combat
  • Fast Rope/Helicast/Rappel
  • VBSS
  • CQB

Equipment

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Anti-tank fire support team in a NATO Exercise in Lithuania, firing a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle.
Portuguese Marine landing during NATO exercise Trident Juncture 15

Infantry weapons

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Special Actions Detachment during NATO exercise Trident Juncture 15
Weapon Origin Type Caliber Image Notes
Pistols
Glock 17  Austria Semi-automatic pistol 9mm 250 Glock Gen 5 additional units received in 2023[3]
Submachine gus
Brügger & Thomet MP9  Switzerland Submachine gun 9mm Used by Special Actions Detachment[4]
Heckler & Koch MP5A3/A5  Germany Submachine Gun 9mm Some modernized with Spuhr kit and Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sight's[5][6]
Assault rifles
Heckler & Koch G36  Germany Assault rifle 5.56x45mm Used by Special Actions Detachment and Sappers Divers Group.[7] Versions C and K are used.
Heckler & Koch HK416A5  Germany Assault rifle 5.56×45mm More than 250 rifles used by Special Actions Detachment, Force Projection Unit, Combat Support Detachment and Sappers Divers Group[8][9]
Heckler & Koch HK417A2  Germany Battle rifle 7.62x51mm Used by Special Actions Detachment and Sappers Divers Group[10]
Heckler & Koch G3A3/A4  Germany Battle rifle 7.62x51mm Modernized with Spuhr kit and Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sight's.[11]
M16A2  United States Assault rifle 5.56x45mm Equipped with M203 40 mm grenade launcher. used by Special Actions Detachment[12]
Sniper rifles
Heckler & Koch HK41A2  Germany Sniper support rifle 7.62x51mm Equipped with the Trijicon VCOG 1-6x24 scope, used by Special Actions Detachment.[13]
Heckler & Koch MSG-90  Germany Sniper support rifle 7.62x51mm Used essentially by PELBOARD.
Mauser 86SR  United States Sniper rifle 7.62x51mm Used by Reconnaissance Units.[14]
AI Arctic Warfare  United Kingdom Sniper rifle 7.62x51mm Used by Special Actions Detachment[15]
Accuracy International AWM  United Kingdom Sniper rifle .338 Lapua Magnum Used by Special Actions Detachment[16]
Accuracy International AW50  United Kingdom Sniper rifle 12.7mm Used by Special Actions Detachment[15]
Machine guns
FN Minimi Mk3  Belgium Light machine gun 5.56x45mm At least 36 units purchased in 2023[17]
Rheinmetall MG3  Germany General-purpose machine gun 7.62x51mm Also mounted on vehicles[18]
Browning M2HB  United States Heavy machine gun .50 BMG Used on tripods and mounted on vehicles[19]
Shotguns
Remington 870  United States Pump-action shotgun 12-gauge [20]
Mossberg 590  United States Pump-action shotgun 12-gauge
Grenade launchers
Heckler & Koch GMG  Germany Grenade launcher 40 mm grenade Used on tripods and mounted on vehicles[21]
Heckler & Koch AG36  Germany Grenade launcher 40 mm grenade Used on HK G36 rifles[22]
M203  United States Grenade launcher 40 mm grenade Used on M16A2 rifles by Special Actions Detachment[12]
Mortars
Tampella B  Finland Mortar 120mm 12 units used by the Mortar Platoon (PELMORT)[23][24]
ECIA L  Spain Mortar 81mm 8 units used by the Mortar Platoon (PELMORT)[25]
FBP Morteirete  Portugal Mortar 60mm Fast mortar
Anti-tank weapons
MILAN  France Anti-tank guided missile 115mm Some mounted on vehicles[19]
Carl Gustav M3  Sweden Shoulder launched recoilless rifle 84mm [26]

Others

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Vehicles

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Unmanned Vehicles

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Amphibious

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Helicopters

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Ranks

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Officers

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NATO code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1
 Portuguese Navy[37]
Almirante da Armada Almirante Vice-almirante Contra-almirante Comodoro Capitão de mar e guerra Capitão de fragata Capitão-tenente Primeiro-tenente Segundo-tenente Guarda-marinha/
Subtenente

Ratings

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NATO code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
 Portuguese Navy[37]
 No insignia No insignia
Sargento-mor Sargento-chefe Sargento-ajudante Primeiro-sargento Segundo-sargento Subsargento Cabo-mor Cabo Primeiro-marinheiro Segundo-marinheiro Primeiro-grumete Segundo-grumete

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ IISS 2023, p. 124.
  2. ^ "Marinha Portuguesa - Página Oficial on LinkedIn: #marinhaportuguesa #fuzileiros". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  3. ^ "Direção de Navios | Aquisição Glock17 GEN5" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Portuguese Navy DAE combat diver, shot for Flashbang volume 10". Facebook.
  5. ^ "MP5A3 Portuguese Marines".
  6. ^ Pelotão de Abordagem faz treino de tiro real, retrieved 2023-08-23
  7. ^ "Mais de 650 militares da Marinha Portuguesa treinam em cenários de crise". www.cmjornal.pt (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  8. ^ "Fuzileiros em missão na Roménia".
  9. ^ Saldanha, Armando (2024-11-16). "Fuzileiros recebem 250 HK 416 prosseguindo a substituição das G3". Anotícia (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  10. ^ "Portuguese Navy acquired HK 416 and HK 417 rifles".
  11. ^ "Long live the H&K G3! Portuguese NAVY approves the Spuhr upgrade kit -". The Firearm Blog. 2019-06-20. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  12. ^ a b "O DESTACAMENTO DE ACÇÕES ESPECIAIS | Operacional" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-12-22.
  13. ^ "HK417 Portuguese Marines".
  14. ^ "Portuguese Marines Recon Unit". Facebook.
  15. ^ a b "Marinha acelera reequipamento individual e de combate dos fuzileiros". www.dn.pt (in European Portuguese). 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  16. ^ a b c d Vista, Blogue Barco À (2012-01-30). "BLOGUE BARCO À VISTA: PELOTÃO DE RECONHECIMENTO DA CAF". BLOGUE BARCO À VISTA. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  17. ^ "FN MINIMI Portuguese Marines".
  18. ^ Defesa, Redação Forças de (2021-04-18). "Fuzileiros Navais de Portugal completam 400 anos". Poder Naval (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  19. ^ a b "Meios Terrestres".
  20. ^ "O CONTRA-ALMIRANTE CORTES PICCIOCHI FALA AO "OPERACIONAL" | Operacional" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  21. ^ "HK GMG | The Way of the Warrior(s)" (in European Portuguese). 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  22. ^ "Portuguese Marines in Lithuania". Facebook.
  23. ^ "Fuzileiros realizam treino de morteiros".
  24. ^ "PoADU - Portuguese Aerospace & Defence Update". PoADU - Portuguese Aerospace & Defence Update. 2011-03-25. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  25. ^ Vista, Blogue Barco À (2011-11-27). "BLOGUE BARCO À VISTA: PELOTÃO DE MORTEIROS DA CAF". BLOGUE BARCO À VISTA. Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  26. ^ "O dia em que o ministro da Defesa viu um grupo de jornalistas a irem (quase) pelos ares". Jornal Expresso (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-08-23.
  27. ^ Vista, Blogue Barco À (2014-02-23). "BLOGUE BARCO À VISTA: SECÇÃO DE VIGILÂNCIA DO CAMPO DE BATALHA". BLOGUE BARCO À VISTA. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  28. ^ "MLR 50 ~ Portuguese Fuzileiros Defenders In 2015". Joint Forces News. 2021-08-21. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  29. ^ a b "CEOV - X-311 and X-312 unmanned vehicles".
  30. ^ "Maior exercício de robótica recebeu a visita do Almirante Gouveia e Melo".
  31. ^ "Meios Anfíbios".
  32. ^ MEGA REPORTAGEM | NARCOTRÁFICO COMBATIDO PELAS FORÇAS ARMADAS PORTUGUESAS. Retrieved 2024-04-27 – via www.youtube.com.
  33. ^ "O dia em que Marcelo conheceu os mais belos das Forças Armadas". Jornal Expresso (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  34. ^ "Fuzileiros com novos botes". Marinha (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  35. ^ "O LYNX DA MARINHA PORTUGUESA NO COMBATE À PIRATARIA". O LYNX DA MARINHA PORTUGUESA NO COMBATE À PIRATARIA ~ OPERAÇÕES - PÁSSARO DE FERRO. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  36. ^ "AS "ASAS" DA MARINHA PORTUGUESA | Operacional" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-06-10.
  37. ^ a b "Os Postos". marinha.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 February 2021.

References

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