Belém (PA) – The mouth of the Amazon River, on the coast of Amapá, is a strategic area for national security policy and for the Brazilian Army. For this reason, the Northern Military Command carried out Operation Calçoene, a series of military exercises to train troops in the defense of the coast, which is the gateway to the Amazon.
The Amapá municipality of Calçoene was chosen to host the activity. Over the course of a week, around 1,000 military personnel moved around the town, where more than 70 operational vehicles, Multiple Rocket Launchers and helicopters from the Army Aviation Detachment were used to simulate an aeromobile assault.
The activity was coordinated by the Land Operations Center (COTER) and was marked by interoperability between the Forces. The Ministry of Defence, the Brazilian Navy, the Brazilian Air Force and 25 other Army military organizations were involved in developing this new doctrinal experiment.
“We know how coveted the Amazon is around the world and worrying about tactics and operations aimed at defending the mouth of the Amazon River is fundamental to our sovereignty,” said COTER Commander, Army General Estevam Cals Theophilo Gaspar de Oliveira.
The Strategic Capabilities for Convergence Operations Task Force (FT CEOC) is a new working concept for the Brazilian Army and was present in Operation Calçoene. Among the capabilities applied to carry out the Doctrinal Experiment in Coastal Defense were: special operations, cyber and electronic warfare, command and control, anti-aircraft and missile and rocket artillery, intelligence, aviation, maneuver and logistics.
“This is our second Doctrinal Experimentation experience. FT CEOC makes it possible to act in the phases prior to combat and allows us to model operational environments in peacetime, crisis and combat. We can contribute to the degradation of the enemy’s combat power from the moment we deploy our capabilities before the first Army corps occupies the defensive position,” explained Brigadier General Andrelucio Ricardo Couto, the Army’s Special Operations Commander.
This activity contributes to the operational training of the Land Force, with the use of means that add important capabilities in the defense of the coast in a multidomain environment, as well as enabling joint doctrinal discussions and leveling knowledge between the Forces, obtaining mutual gains for military training.
“We witnessed a demonstration of great capability from our personnel and the training was fundamental. We are all to be congratulated, the Operations Coordination Center, the Military Region with the logistics part, in other words, everyone involved who contributed to reaching this level of training that we have achieved today,” concluded Army General Luciano Guilherme Cabral Pinheiro, Northern Military Commander. He said that in 2024, the Doctrinal Experiment in Defense of the Coast will be held again in Calçoene with the expansion of the Brazilian Army’s operational capabilities.