Page 138 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Winter 2016

Portuguese 2nd Parachute Battalion

Bryan Ferreira, DDS, EMT-P

Photograph by Bryan Ferreira and the 2nd Para Bn/KTM.

n the World of Special Operations Medicine, the Por- to Portugal from Angola were some of the men of the
tuguese 2nd Parachute Battalion (2nd Para BN) plays BCP 21. They had been part of major operations, either
Ia unique role as part of the Army Special Forces. It being dropped by parachute or airborne by helicopter.
is one of the Army Special Forces’ two parachute bat- Among the unit’s many awards and decorations, the BN
talions, and one of the most experienced units in the received the Portuguese Gold Medal of Military Valor
Portuguese Army. for its counterinsurgency operations in Angola between
1961 and 1975.
Its history is not very long, as with any paratrooper unit
in the world, but it is full of glorious missions. The 2nd Since 1993, the BN has been part of the Army. Together
Para BN dates back to 1961, in Angola, with the cre- with the 1st Parachute BN, the Air-Land Pathfinder Com-
ation of a “Paratroopers Hunter Battalion” (Batalhão pany, and the Airborne Replenishment Company, they rep-
de Caçadores Pára-quedistas BCP 21), which was then resent the bulk of the airborne forces. Currently, they are
part of the Portuguese Air Force, where they were di- incorporated in the Rapid Reaction Brigade, which is
rectly under the command of the 2nd Air Region (South one of the most active Brigades in the Portuguese mili-
Atlantic air command). The BN participated in the revo- tary. The 2nd Para BN has been deployed in most of the
lutionary wars of the Portuguese provinces in Africa in Portuguese International commitments, including Bosnia
the 1960s and 1970s, where they put their combat skills Herzegovina, East Timor, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
and bold spirit to good use. Their motto is: “Several skies and lands have we seen.”

In 1961, the BN also began the first course for Parachut- The 2nd Para BN is headquartered in the military area of
ist Nurses, but of the ones who finished the course, only São Jacinto, in the city of Aveiro. This is a military area
some won the right to wear the Green Beret—the Beret with perfect conditions for the training of Special Forces.
of the Portuguese Paratroopers. It has an airfield and a drop zone, and is surrounded on
one side by the ocean and the other by a river. It has
In 1974, when the civil war in the Portuguese African been used extensively by Portugal and its allies for joint
Provinces ended, among the last military troops to return exercises, training their combat interoperability.

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