Portuguese army

Portuguese Army Exército Português
Portuguese Army Coat of Arms
Active	25 July 1139 – present (877 years, 6 months)
Country	Portugal
Type	Army
Role	Land force
Size	16,111 military 1,897 civilians
Part of	Portuguese Armed Forces
Patron	Afonso I of Portugal (civil) Saint George (religious)
Motto(s)	Em perigos e guerras esforçados In dangers and wars strengthened
Engagements	Reconquista 1383–1385 Crisis War of the Castilian Succession Persia–Portugal war Ethiopian-Adal War Dutch–Portuguese War Turkish-Portuguese Wars War of the Portuguese Succession Malayan-Portuguese War Portuguese Restoration War War of the Spanish Succession Seven Years' War French Revolutionary Wars War of the Oranges Peninsular War Luso-Brazilian invasion Brazilian War of Independence Liberal Wars First Carlist War World War I Portuguese-Indian War (1961) Portuguese Colonial War EUFOR Afghanistan War Peacekeaping Missions -Angola -Bosnia -Croatia -Macedonia -Kosovo -Western Sahara -East Timor -Georgia -Lebanon
Commanders
Army Chief of Staff	General Artur Neves Pina Monteiro [2]
Notable commanders	Afonso I of Portugal Nuno Álvares Pereira John I of Portugal Afonso de Albuquerque Salvador Correia de Sá Matias de Albuquerque Marquis of Minas Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque Francisco da Costa Gomes António de Spínola

The Portuguese Army (Portuguese: Exército Português) is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is also its largest branch. It is charged with the defence of Portugal, in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. It is one of the oldest armies in the world, with its origins going back to the 12th century.

The Portuguese Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Army (CEME), a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for the operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Ministry of National Defense for all other matters. The CEME is the only officer in the Army with the rank of General (Four-star rank).

Presently, the Portuguese Army is an entirely professional force made of career personnel (officers and NCOs) and of volunteer personnel (officers, NCOs and enlisted ranks). Until the early 1990s, conscripts constituted the bulk of the Army personnel, with a cadre of career officers and NCOs responsible for their training. Conscription was however gradually reduced since the middle 1990s, until being finally formally abolished in 2004.

As 2014, the Portuguese Army employed 5,667 career personnel and 10,444 volunteers, this representing a total of 16,111 military personnel. Of the total military personnel, 2,669 were officers, 3,917 were NCOs and 9,595 were other ranks. Further, the Army also included 1,897 civilian employees.

The national deployed forces (forças nacionais destacadas or FND) are units or teams deployed by the Portuguese Armed Forces in foreign missions, mostly in the scope of NATO, the United Nations or the European Union. Currently, the Portuguese Army maintains forces or elements deployed in the following international missions: