The Portuguese Paratroopers () are an elite infantry assault force, representing the bulk of the airborne forces of Portugal. They were created in 1956 as part of the Portuguese Air Force, being transferred to the Portuguese Army in 1993. Presently, most of the Paratroopers are part of the Portuguese Rapid Reaction Brigade which comprises all 3 special forces troops.
The Portuguese Paratroopers were usually nicknamed "Paras" or "Green Berets" (Boinas Verdes).
Organization
Until 2006, the Portuguese Paratroopers formed an autonomous command within the Army, the Airborne Troops Command (Comandos de Tropas Aerotransportadas) or CTA. All parachute units and most of the Paratroopers were under that command. The CTA was also responsible for the selection of the future Paratroopers and for their training. The main operational formation of the CTA was the Independent Airborne Brigade (Brigada Aerotransportada Independente) or BAI. The CTA was created in 1993, when the Paratroopers were transferred to the Army, succeeding the Parachute Troops Command (Comando de Tropas Paraquedistas), that had the same functions within the Air Force.
The CTA was extinct in the Army reorganization of 2006, at the same time the BAI being transformed in the Rapid Reaction Brigade or BrigRR. Since then, the Paratroopers do not form a collective corps, constituting only a speciality of the Army. They serve mainly in the following units of the BrigRR (that now also includes non-parachute units): School of Parachute Troops (including the Air-Land Support Battalion and its Pathfinders Company); 1st Parachute Infantry Battalion / 15th Infantry Regiment; 2nd Parachute Infantry Battalion / 10th Infantry Regiment;
History
The Parachute Rifle Battalion
The first Portuguese Paratroopers were a group of 12 Timorese soldiers trained in Australia in 1942, to participate in the fight against the Japanese forces that were occupying Portuguese Timor. Some of them were launched in the rearguard of the Japanese forces.
After the successful use of airborne forces in the Second World War by Germany and the Allies, other armed forces began to examine the possibility of forming parachute Troops for special missions. In 1955, the Portuguese Defense Minister approved a request for funds for airborne paratroop training. Two Portuguese Army captains went to France to take the French parachute course at the École des Troupes Aéroportées.
After the Portuguese Air Force was created as an independent service branch, it was decided that the Paratroopers would be part of the Air Force, much like the German organizational structure during World War II. The Parachute Rifle Battalion (Batalhão de Caçadores Páraquedistas) or BCP was formed in 1956. The Paratroopers were issued unique green berets and camo uniforms, being the first Portuguese military unit to wear these items of uniform. The Paratroopers initially jumped using the venerable German tri-motored Junkers Ju 52 aircraft.
The BCP was provisionally installed in the Carregueira Military Camp, near Lisbon, but soon it was moved to Tancos, which still serves today as the main base of the Portuguese Paratroopers.
The Parachute Rifles Regiment and the Overseas War
In 1961, conflict erupted in the African colonies, which soon evolved into a series of guerrilla campaigns against Portuguese rule. The Paratroopers were then required to fight in Africa. The BCP was enlarged to become a regiment, as the Regimento de Caçadores Paraquedistas or RCP. It included an operational battalion (11th Paratroopers Rifles or BCP 11) and a training battalion. By this time, the men were armed with the modern 7,62mm ArmaLite AR-10 battle rifle, a weapon previously not seen in Western military forces. The paratroopers liked the accuracy and mobility of the AR-10, but supplies were embargoed after initial deliveries were completed in 1960, and paratroopers were later issued the collapsible-stock variant of the m/961 (G3) rifle. To fight the various separatist guerrilla movements, additional Paratroopers battalions were created in the Portuguese African territories of Angola, Guinea and Mozambique.
Due to Portuguese Air Force control over airborne units, the Paratroopers rifles battalions (BCP) numbers reflected their subordination to the several regional Air Force commands. So, the 1st Air Region (North Atlantic air command) commanded the BCP 11 based in European Portugal and the BCP 12 based in Portuguese Guinea, 2nd Air Region (South Atlantic air command) commanded the BCP 21 based in Angola and the 3rd Air Region (Indian Ocean air command) commanded the BCP 31 and BCP 32 both based in Mozambique.