The Armed Forces General Staff ( pt, Estado-Maior-General das Forças Armadas), or EMGFA, is the supreme military body of
Portugal. It is responsible for the planning, command and control of the
Portuguese Armed Forces
The Portuguese Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas) are the military of Portugal. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the other unified bodies and the three service branches: Portuguese Navy, Portuguese Army and Portuguese Air ...
.
EMGFA is headed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces ( pt, Chefe do Estado-Maior-General das Forças Armadas) or CEMGFA, the highest rank of
general in the Portuguese Armed Forces.
History
In 1950, as part of the Portuguese military reforms related with the lessons learned following World War II, the start of the
Cold War and the foundation of
NATO, the roles of
minister of National Defence and of Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff (CEMGFA) were created. The creation of these roles was a major step in the planned integration of the several military
service branch
Military branch (also service branch or armed service) is according to common standard a subdivision of the national armed forces of a sovereign nation or state.
Types of branches
Unified armed forces
The Canadian Armed Forces is the unifi ...
es and so the establishment of the Armed Forces of Portugal as a single organization. The CEMGFA assumed most of the responsibilities until then assigned to the military heads of the Navy and of the Army, the then existing service branches, as the Air Force would only be created in 1952.
At the same time and as a forerunner of a future General Staff, the Secretariat-General of National Defence ( pt, Secretariado-Geral da Defesa Nacional) or SGDN was established. The SGDN was the central planning organization of the Defence, being headed by the CEMGFA.
In 1969, it was decreed that SGDN should be remodelled in order to be transformed into the Armed Forces General Staff (EMGFA), as the organization for the joint administration of the Armed Forces. However, transformation of the SGDN into the EMGFA occurred only in 1974.
Organization
The Armed Forces General Staff is integrated into the
Portuguese Ministry of National Defence and includes:
* The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA)
* The Joint Staff (EMC, ''Estado-Maior Conjunto'')
* The Joint Operational Command (COC, ''Comando Operacional Conjunto'')
* The operational commands of the
Azores
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and
Madeira
* The
commanders-in-chief that can be created under the CEMGFA, in times of war
* The
Military Security and Information Center (CISMIL, ''Centro de Informações e Segurança Militares'')
* The general support organizations
Under the dependency of the CEMGFA are also:
* The
Portuguese Joint Command and Staff College
The Portuguese Joint Command and Staff College ( pt, Instituto de Estudos Superiores Militares) or IESM is the military university establishment that provides training and education to experienced officers of the three service branches of the Portu ...
(IESM, ''Instituto de Estudos Superiores Militares'')
* The Hospital of the Armed Forces (HFAR, ''Hospital das Forças Armadas'')
The Chief of the General Staff
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces is the operational commander of the Portuguese Armed Forces in times of peace. In times of war, he assumes the complete command of the Armed Forces. The CEMGFA is a general officer of one of the three branches of the Armed Forces (
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
,
Navy and
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...
), appointed by the
President of Portugal, by proposal of the
Government of Portugal.
List of chiefs of the General Staff
See also
*
Portuguese Army
The Portuguese Army ( pt, 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. With it ...
*
Portuguese Air Force
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*
Portuguese Navy
The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...
*
National Republican Guard (Portugal)
The National Republican Guard ( pt, Guarda Nacional Republicana) or GNR is the national gendarmerie force of Portugal.
Members of the GNR are military personnel, subject to military law and organisation, unlike the agents of the civilian Publi ...
Notes
References
* RIBEIRO, António S., ''Organização Superior da Defesa Nacional'', Prefácio, 2004
External links
Armed Forces General Staff – Official Site
{{Authority control
Staff (military)
Portugal
1950 establishments in Portugal
Military of Portugal