Editing Portuguese Armed Forces (section)

===Democratic Republic===
{{See also|Carnation Revolution}}
[[File:Ondanks een verbod wilden leden van de Portugese Maoïstische beweging MRPP op 31, Bestanddeelnr 927-7282.jpg|thumb|300px|Portuguese military in public order duty during a Maoist demonstration at the [[Rossio Square]], Lisbon, in the troubled period which followed the Carnation Revolution]]
On the morning of 25 April 1974, the [[Armed Forces Movement]] (MFA, ''Movimento das Forças Armadas'') – consisting mostly of junior officers of the three service branches – launched a ''coup d'état'', known as the [[Carnation Revolution]], which would bring an end to the [[New State (Portugal)|New State]] regime and shortly the Overseas War.<ref>{{cite web|title=O MFA|url=http://www.guerracolonial.org/index.php?content=123|website=guerracolonial.org|publisher=Guerra Colonial :: 1961 – 1974|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> While the revolt included several military units located on the mainland, the forces that departed from the Cavalry School located in [[Santarém, Portugal|Santarém]], led by captain [[Salgueiro Maia]], were the ones that managed to obtain the surrender of prime-minister [[Marcelo Caetano]] after a stand-off at the National Republican Guard headquarters in Lisbon, where he and some other members of the Government had taken refuge.

However, after the revolution and for about a year and a half, the Portuguese military would become highly politicized and split into several factions. By the summer of 1975, the tension between these was so high, that the country was on the verge of civil war. The forces connected to the extreme left-wing launched a further ''coup d'état'' on 25 November but the Group of Nine, a moderate military faction, immediately initiated a counter-coup. The main episode of this confrontation was the successful assault on the barracks of the left-wing dominated [[2nd Lancers Regiment (Portugal)|Military Police Regiment]] by the moderate forces of the Commando Regiment, resulting in three soldiers [[killed in action]]. The Group of Nine emerged victorious, thus preventing the establishment of a [[Communism|communist]] state in Portugal and ending the period of political instability in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=25 de Novembro, o fim do Verão Quente|url=http://www.areamilitar.net/HistBCR.aspx?N=139|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928232359/http://www.areamilitar.net/HistBCR.aspx?N=139|url-status=usurped|archive-date=28 September 2013|website=areamilitar.net|publisher=Áreamilitar|access-date=28 April 2015}}</ref>

The Ministry of National Defense would be created during this period of instability. However this ministry had no power over the Armed Forces, his role was simply to act as a connection between the military and the Government. It was the [[Revolution Council (Portugal)|Revolution Council]] – created in 1975, consisting only of military officers and chaired by the President of the Republic – that had the full control over the Armed Forces, which meant these were completely independent from the civilian administration. The Government military departments (Navy Ministry, Army Ministry and Secretariat of State of the Aeronautics) were disbanded, with each service branch chief of staff assuming the roles of the former ministers, under the coordination of the CEMGFA, to whom was given a status equivalent to that of the [[Prime Minister of Portugal]]. This organization would remain in place until 1982, when the Revolution Council was disbanded after the first revision to the [[Constitution of Portugal|1976 Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Lei n.º 1/82, de 30 de Setembro|url=http://www.pgdlisboa.pt/leis/lei_mostra_articulado.php?nid=8&tabela=leis|website=pgdlisboa.pt|publisher=Procuradoria-Geral Distrital de Lisboa|access-date=2 February 2015}}</ref> The Armed Forces were again placed under the subordination of the civilian administration, more specifically being integrated in the Ministry of National Defense.

With the [[decolonization]] and the end of the Overseas War, the Portuguese military would change from an asymmetric war oriented force to a conventional war oriented force, focused in defense of [[Western Europe#Cold War|Western Europe]] from a possible Soviet invasion.

Meanwhile, the 1980s would see the creation of [[special operations]], namely the Army's [[Special Operations Troops Centre|Special Operations Forces]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Centro de Tropas de Operações Especiais – Historial|url=http://www.exercito.pt/sites/CTOE/Historial/Paginas/default.aspx|website=exercito.pt|publisher=Exército Português|access-date=8 January 2015}}</ref> and the Navy's [[Special Actions Detachment]].<ref>{{cite web|title=O DESTACAMENTO DE ACÇÕES ESPECIAIS – Zebros e Skua|url=http://www.operacional.pt/o-destacamento-de-accoes-especiais/|website=operacional.pt|publisher=Operacional – defesa, forças armadas e de segurança|access-date=8 January 2015}}</ref> In 1990, the Air Force would create Combat Rescue teams (''Resgate em Combate'' or ''RESCOM'') for [[Combat search and rescue|CSAR]] operations but in 2006 these were extinct and replaced by the Force Protection Unit (''Unidade de Protecção da Força'' or ''UPF'') whose mission is to provide security for the Air Force elements deployed on international missions.<ref>{{cite web|title=AFEGANISTÃO: UNIDADE DE PROTECÇÃO DA FORÇA EM OPERAÇÕES|url=http://www.operacional.pt/afeganistao-unidade-de-proteccao-da-forca-em-operacoes/|website=operacional.pt|publisher=Operacional – defesa, forças armadas e de segurança|access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref>