Portuguese Marine Corps

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.

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.

The Elite Naval Infantry only reappeared as permanent force in 1961, In 1960, four Portuguese Navy saloirs were sent to England. One Navy Officer and three Enlisted Sailors where they successfully attended the UK Commando Course and returned to Portugal, starting the formation of the Fuzileiro class. The Fuzileiros were recreated 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.

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^[1]
   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

• Special Actions Detachment (Destacamento de Acções Especiais (DAE)) - SOF unit.

Constitutes a special operations maritime task unit (SOMTU).

The permanent task units of the Force Projection Unit are designed to conduct Commando Raids and other Small Scale Amphibious Operations.

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

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.

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

Infantry weapons

Weapon	Origin	Type	Caliber	Image	Notes
Pistols
Glock 17	Austria	Semi-automatic pistol	9mm		250 Glock Gen 5 additional units received in 2023[2]
Submachine gus
Brügger & Thomet MP9	Switzerland	Submachine gun	9mm		Used by Special Actions Detachment[3]
Heckler & Koch MP5A3/A5	Germany	Submachine Gun	9mm		Some modernized with Spuhr kit and Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sight's[4][5]
Assault rifles
Heckler & Koch G36	Germany	Assault rifle	5.56x45mm		Used by Special Actions Detachment and Sappers Divers Group.[6] Versions C and K are used.
Heckler & Koch HK416A5	Germany	Assault rifle	5.56×45mm		Used by Special Actions Detachment and Sappers Divers Group[7]
Heckler & Koch HK417A2	Germany	Battle rifle	7.62x51mm		Used by Special Actions Detachment and Sappers Divers Group[8]
Heckler & Koch G3A3/A4	Germany	Battle rifle	7.62x51mm		Modernized with Spuhr kit and Aimpoint CompM4 red dot sight's.[9]
M16A2	United States	Assault rifle	5.56x45mm		Equipped with M203 40 mm grenade launcher. used by Special Actions Detachment[10]
Sniper rifles
Heckler & Koch HK41A2	Germany	Sniper support rifle	7.62x51mm		Equipped with the Trijicon VCOG 1-6x24 scope, used by Special Actions Detachment.[11]
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.[12]
AI Arctic Warfare	United Kingdom	Sniper rifle	7.62x51mm		Used by Special Actions Detachment[13]
Accuracy International AWM	United Kingdom	Sniper rifle	.338 Lapua Magnum		Used by Special Actions Detachment[14]
Accuracy International AW50	United Kingdom	Sniper rifle	12.7mm		Used by Special Actions Detachment[13]
Machine guns
FN Minimi Mk3	Belgium	Light machine gun	5.56x45mm		At least 36 units purchased in 2023[15]
Rheinmetall MG3	Germany	General-purpose machine gun	7.62x51mm		Also mounted on vehicles[16]
Browning M2HB	United States	Heavy machine gun	.50 BMG		Used on tripods and mounted on vehicles[17]
Shotguns
Remington 870	United States	Pump-action shotgun	12-gauge		[18]
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[19]
Heckler & Koch AG36	Germany	Grenade launcher	40 mm grenade		Used on HK G36 rifles[20]
M203	United States	Grenade launcher	40 mm grenade		Used on M16A2 rifles by Special Actions Detachment[10]
Mortars
Tampella B	Finland	Mortar	120mm		12 units used by the Mortar Platoon (PELMORT)[21][22]
ECIA L	Spain	Mortar	81mm		8 units used by the Mortar Platoon (PELMORT)[23]
FBP Morteirete	Portugal	Mortar	60mm		Fast mortar
Anti-tank weapons
MILAN	France	Anti-tank guided missile	115mm		Some mounted on vehicles[17]
Carl Gustav M3	Sweden	Shoulder launched recoilless rifle	84mm		[24]

Others

• AN/PVS-14 Night-vision device;^[14]
• AN/PVS-23 Night-vision device;^[25]
• Schiebel AN-19/2 Mine detector;^[14]
• THALES SOPHIE Thermal Imager and Target Locator.^[14]

Vehicles

• Can-Am Traxter HD8;
• Nissan Patrol;
• Land Rover Defender 90/110;^[26]
• Toyota Land Cruiser HZJ73 armed with MILAN ATGM, M2HB Browning or HK GMG;
• Toyota Hilux;
• Mitsubishi L200;
• Mercedes-Benz 240 GD;
• Mercedes-Benz Unimog U1300L;
• Mercedes-Benz Unimog U1550L;
• Mercedes-Benz Unimog U4000;
• Mercedes-Benz Atego 1823;
• Mercedes-Benz Actros 3340 EMPL Fahrzeugwerk EH/TC 30.000;
• Iveco Trakker 330 with communications shelter;

Unmanned Vehicles

• X-311: Used for reconnaissance and surveillance;^[27]
• X-312: Used for grenade launching;^[27]
• X-313: Used for reconnaissance and surveillance.^[28]

Amphibious

• 15x LARC-V^[29]
• 20x High-speed inflatable boats;^[30]
• 3x rigid inflatable boats armed with MG 3 machine guns;^[31]
• Dozens of Zebro III-class inflatable boats.^[32]

Helicopters

• 5x Super Lynx Mk95A armed with one FN M3M and 2x Mk46 torpedo^[33][34]

Officers

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Portuguese Navy[35] v t e
	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

NATO code	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Portuguese Navy[35] v t e																																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

• Portuguese Navy
• Special Actions Detachment
• Sapper Divers Detachments
• List of Portuguese naval ships
• Portuguese Naval Aviation
• Portuguese Colonial War

• Portuguese Marine Corps official page