The Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion, known as the Tonelero Battalion, located in the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, is the military unit of the Amphibious Commandos (COMANF), which are a troop of Special Forces of the Marine Corps of the Brazilian Navy. They are Marines specifically prepared for planning, conducting and executing Special Operations, Information Operations and Psychological Operations.

Purpose and organization

This battalion has the main purpose, through Amphibious Commandos, to contribute to the execution of naval power, carrying out:

1st Special Operations Company

Specialized Reconnaissance - RECON, pre-assault and post-assault reconnaissance actions are involved in support of landing forces, with highly qualified personnel as scuba divers or using the parachute as a means of infiltration with the mission of identifying and reporting enemy activities, conducting fires of support weapons, deploy sensors on the ground and guide operations with

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines ...

2nd Special Operations Company

Commandos Action (Direct Actions), Commando actions aim to destroy or damage relevant objectives, retake facilities, capture or rescue personnel, obtain data, mislead and produce psychological effects.

3rd Special Operations Company

Special Rescue and Recapture Group (GERR-OpEsp), the Special Rescue and Recapture Group (GERR), has the mission of rescuing military or civilian authorities kept in illegal confinement, counterterrorism, search and rescue of pilots slaughtered in combat and retake zones facilities of interest to the Navy and/or the Federal Government.

4th Command and Service Company

Regarding the management of its material and human resources, the Battalion has a Command and Services Company and administrative autonomy through which it plans and executes the resources received from the Fleet Marine Force - FFE.

5th Special Operations Support Company

Its task is to provide specialized combat service support, either on board, through the parachute folding and maintenance section, the diving support section and the vessel support section, or in the Marines Operative Grouping operations. The company organizes a Special Operations Support Detachment to work with the Marines Operative Grouping Combat Services Support Component, performing specialized support tasks, such as operating pneumatic landing craft, resupplying infiltrated special operations teams, or even carrying out the maintenance of specific material used in special operations, such as parachutes and diving equipment.

Special Operations Instruction Section

Train the human resources belonging to the Marine Corps Special Operations Battalion; Contribute to the development of the doctrine of Special Operations in the Marine Corps; and Conduct research and experimentation with new operational techniques and equipment peculiar to Special Operations.

Symbols

Brevet

The identifying symbol of the Amphibious Commandos is their hostile-looking brevet with a skull pierced by lightning; meaning the enemy's death and the speed and violence in his actions, an anchor; meaning loyalty to the Brazilian Navy and the ability to perform aquatic operations, a pair of wings; meaning ability to operate by air, and a blue headstone; meaning darkness, a formidable environment for the activities of the Amphibious Commandos.

Black cap

Another identifying symbol of the Amphibious Commandos is the black cap that in the case of the Brazilian Marine Corps military personnel only the Amphibious Commandos use.

Weapons

{, class="wikitable" ! style="text-align: left;", Name ! style="text-align: left;", Origin ! style="text-align: left;", Type , - , PT 24/7 PRO , , Pistol , - , PT 92 AF , , Pistol , - ,

Heckler & Koch UMP The Heckler & Koch UMP (''Universale Maschinenpistole'', German for "Universal Machine Pistol") is a submachine gun developed and manufactured by Heckler & Koch. Heckler & Koch developed the UMP as a lighter and cheaper successor to the MP5, thou ...

, , Submachine gun , - ,

Parker Hale M85 The Parker Hale M85 is a British bolt-action .308 sniper rifle, with an effective range around 900 metres. It fires from a 10-round detachable magazine, and weighs 12 pounds, telescopic sight included. The rifle was created after the Falklands Wa ...

, , Sniper rifle , - , MK 18 , , Assault rifle , - ,

Franchi SPAS-15 The Franchi SPAS-15 is a dual-mode 12 gauge combat shotgun manufactured by the Italian company Luigi Franchi S.P.A. Design The weapon is based on the SPAS-12, and has similar pump-action/ semi-automatic firing modes. In semi-automatic mode, ...

, , Shotgun , - ,

PGM Hécate II The Hécate II is the standard heavy sniper rifle and anti-materiel rifle of the French Army, sometimes known as the FR-12.7 (french: Fusil à Répétition de calibre 12.7 mm or "12.7 mm calibre repeating rifle"). It is manufactured by PGM Pré ...

, , Anti-materiel rifle , - ,

FN Minimi The FN Minimi (short for french: Mini Mitrailleuse; "mini machine gun") is a Belgian 5.56mm light machine gun/squad automatic weapon developed by Ernest Vervier for FN Herstal. First introduced in the late 1970s, it is now in service in more th ...

, , Machine gun , - , Barrett , , Anti-materiel rifle , - ,

PGM Ultima Ratio The PGM Ultima Ratio is a French-designed and manufactured sniper rifle. It uses the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge but depending on the barrel variant can also be chambered for several other cartridges. The PGM Ultima Ratio is intended to fulfill an ...

, , Sniper rifle , - ,

MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

SD6 , , Submachine gun , - ,

AT4 The AT4 is a Swedish unguided, man-portable, disposable, shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank weapon built by Saab Bofors Dynamics (previously Bofors Anti-Armour Systems and before that FFV Ordance). The AT4 is not considered a rocket launc ...

, , Anti-tank weapon , - , COLT SCW , {{flag, United States , Assault rifle , - Special forces of Brazil