The Marine Corps is a vector of excellence in the projection of Naval Power on land
By Corvette Captain (T) Fernando Araújo, First Lieutenant (T) Taise Oliveira and Second Lieutenant (RM2-T) João Stilben – Rio de Janeiro, RJ
“In the fray of the machine gun, in the vanguard that is honor and duty; Marines, in the ardor of battle, we will know how to fight and win”. This excerpt from the song “Na Vanguarda” sums up the essence of amphibious combatants. Being at the head of a combat force that projects itself from sea to land is the raison d’être of the Marine Corps (CFN), the Brazilian Navy’s elite troop.
Although around 70% of the globe is covered by water, it is on land that practically all human activity takes place. But the seas and oceans bathe around three quarters of the world’s countries. This is the case of Brazil, which has a coastline of more than 7,000 km, oceanic islands such as Trindade and Fernando de Noronha, as well as having many of its borders with neighboring countries delimited by important rivers.
These geographical features impose on the navies, especially the Brazilian Navy (MB), the need to project power on land, from positions at sea or in inland waters. The National Defense Strategy (END), a high-level government document that determines the planning and preparation of the Brazilian Armed Forces, provides for the existence of “Marine Corps assets” to ensure the MB’s power projection capacity.
The most complex, intense and risky type of operation for projecting power on land is the so-called amphibious operation, which includes the amphibious assault to conquer a coastal area in hostile territory, with the introduction of a landing force from the sea, which requires the coordination and synchronization of various actions and means such as ships, aircraft, vehicles and troops.
Through the Marine Corps, an essential part of the Amphibious Fleet, which also includes landing ships such as the Multipurpose Dock Ship (NDM) “Bahia” and the Multipurpose Aerodrome Ship “Atlântico”, the MB is one of the few navies in the world capable of conducting highly complex amphibious operations.
“The readiness to deploy, the expeditionary capacity and the amphibious character set the Marines apart from other regular troops, starting at the individual level. We don’t have conscripts in the CFN. All its members are volunteers, selected by public examination, undergo demanding training processes and are subjected to constant training and evaluation. This guarantees us a highly professional force, made up of motivated, self-confident and resilient combatants,” says the Commandant General of the Marine Corps, Fleet Admiral Carlos Chagas Vianna Braga.
At the collective level, the amphibious expertise translates into two other characteristics that highlight the strategic nature of the Marine Corps: the expeditionary and readiness capabilities.
Expeditionary capability
Because they almost always have the sea behind them, Marine troops must be prepared and equipped to act self-sufficiently in order to carry out missions for a limited time, under severe conditions and in operational areas far from their bases.
Every year, the Marine Corps improves its training and demonstrates its expeditionary capabilities in the exercises known as Operation Formosa, which simulates the land part of a large-scale amphibious operation. Because it involves the use of artillery with long-range ammunition, this exercise takes place at the Formosa Training Camp, which belongs to the Brazilian Army and is located in the municipality of Formosa (GO), more than a thousand kilometers from the bases of the CFN’s main operational units, based in Rio de Janeiro.
Ready for use
The National Defense Strategy calls for the Marine Corps to be in a “permanent condition of ready employment”. In fact, readiness is a basic requirement for a corps designed to be “in the vanguard”, doing the first combat against the enemy, while the regular troops finalize, in the rear, the preparations to continue operations.
These characteristics of the CFN are even recognized internationally. In a report released in 2021, the United Nations (UN) classified Brazil’s Marines as a group with an “expeditionary, mobile and agile” mentality and composed of the “highest standards of operational readiness and personnel”, as well as “strong command and control, high morale and discipline”. In 2022, the Marine Corps Rapid Deployment in Peacekeeping received level 3 certification from the UN, the highest level of operational readiness in the United Nations Peacekeeping Capabilities Readiness System.
On home soil, the CFN’s readiness has already been tested in practice on many occasions, as was the case with actions in support of Civil Defense in natural disasters such as those that hit the region of Petrópolis (RJ), in 2022; and São Sebastião (SP), in February 2023, when, in the middle of Carnival, the Marines managed to board the NAM “Atlântico” in less than 12 hours after being called upon. Find out more about the Marines’ rapid response to disaster relief.
Ready for any mission
The CFN’s constant preparation, professionalism and expeditionary nature enable it to carry out a wide range of tasks, in addition to those related to amphibious operations. The National Defense Strategy also establishes as essential the use of the Marines, “for the defense of archipelagos and oceanic islands in Brazilian jurisdictional waters, as well as naval and port facilities, and for participation in international peace operations, humanitarian operations and in support of foreign policy in any region that constitutes a strategic scenario of interest. On the inland waterways, they will be essential for ensuring control of the banks during Riverine Operations.”
In order to meet the different tasks imposed on it by the Brazilian state, the CFN is structured into a managerial, doctrinal and technical-administrative branch, headed by the General Command of the Marine Corps (CGCFN); and a branch for operational activities, carried out by the Fleet Marine Force (FFE) and the District Groups and Battalions, distributed in all regions of the country.
When in operation, Marine troops are organized into Marine Operational Groups (GptOpFuzNav), which are formed for each mission assigned to the CFN, with personnel and equipment from the various battalions and other troop fractions. The GptOpFuzNav are structured in components with specific purposes that complement each other, giving them flexibility and versatility to deal with different situations. The aforementioned Marine Operational Group for Rapid Deployment in Peacekeeping and the Marine Operational Group in Support of Civil Defense (read more here) are examples of GptOpFuzNav activated for specific missions.
In terms of their size and estimated time of operation, without the need for resupply, the GptOpFuzNav can be classified as: Amphibious Element, with the capacity to operate for up to five days and approximately 300 troops; Amphibious Unit, with the average capacity to last in action for up to ten days and around 2,000 troops; and Amphibious Brigade, with approximately 7,000 troops with the capacity to operate for 30 days.
Fleet Marine Force
Known as the “Force that comes from the sea”, the FFE works to organize and prepare Marine Operational Groups to carry out amphibious naval warfare operations, as well as for activities involving limited use of force, such as peacekeeping operations, and even benign activities, such as civil defence support.
The FEE’s structure comprises six main components:
Amphibious Division – concentrates the bulk of the tactical units dedicated to combat, comprising three Infantry Battalions, a Command and Control Battalion, an Artillery Battalion and an Armored Battalion, as well as the Governor’s Island Marine Base in Rio de Janeiro.
Reinforcement Troop – provides support to the Operational Groups during combat, and includes a Logistics Battalion, an Engineering Battalion and an Amphibious Vehicle Battalion, equipped with the well-known CLAnf (Amphibious Caterpillar Cars), armored vehicles that can navigate carrying marines between the landing ships and the beach to be conquered, providing greater protection for the soldiers.
The Reinforcement Troop also has a Police Company, a Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and Radiological Defense Battalion (BtlDNBQR), the Flores Island Marine Base and an Expeditionary Medical Unit, which provides health support to the Groups in the field, and also uses the Marine Operational Group in Support of Civil Defense, when it provides assistance to populations affected by disasters.
Landing Troop Command – has the task of nucleating the Command Component of the GptOpFuzNav up to the Amphibious Unit level, or nucleating the Ground Combat Component of an Amphibious Brigade, acting in the planning and control of operations; and in the organization and maintenance of the GptOpFuzNav’s readiness level.
Air Combat Battalion – responsible for coordinating air operations during GptOpFuzNav maneuvers, such as fire support, transport and air reconnaissance, in support of the troops on the ground. It is also responsible for providing anti-aircraft defense for the GptOpFuzNav in the field.
Marine Special Operations Battalion – specialized in high-risk operations against high-value targets in a variety of environments, using commando actions. It is basically made up of soldiers with specialized training, called Amphibious Commandos, whose training course is among the most demanding in the Brazilian Armed Forces.
Rio Meriti Marine Base – provides administrative support for personnel, health, communications, maintenance, training, food and security to the FFE Command and other Military Organizations based at the Caxias Meriti Naval Complex.
Training the amphibious combatant
The professionalism and competence that distinguish the CFN begin to be forged in the training and qualification of amphibious combatants. The main gateway to a career in the ranks is the Marine Soldier Training Course (C-FSD-FN), held simultaneously at the Almirante Milcíades Portela Alves Instruction Center (CIAMPA) in Rio de Janeiro and the Brasília Instruction and Training Center (CIAB) in the federal capital. Another way to enter is through the competition for the admission of Musician Sergeants.
In 2024, the first women joined the C-FSD-FN as apprentices. Of the 720 young people who have started their adaptation period in the course, 120 are female, which represents the completion of the process of including women in all MB corps, cadres, schools and instruction centers, allowing them from now on to occupy positions and functions that were previously only intended for men.
The training of Marine Officers begins at the Naval Academy, for aspirants who opt for the CFN, or at the Officers’ Training Course, for candidates who already have a civilian university education and are successful in a competition for the Complementary Board or for the Marines’ Assisting Board, for those who are already CFN Squares. The crowning achievement of the Marine Officers’ training as amphibious combatants is the Technical Qualification Internship in Amphibious Warfare, held at the Admiral Sylvio de Camargo Instruction Center (CIASC) in Rio de Janeiro, which trains them to command troop units at platoon level.
The CIASC also runs specialization and improvement courses, qualifying CFN military personnel in specific areas of employment in the various battalions and types of activities carried out by the Marine Operational Groups, such as Artillery, Armour, Logistics, Amphibious Commands, Electronic Warfare, Peace Operations, among others.
Physical fitness and sport
Amphibious warfare demands a lot from the Marines in various aspects, including physical fitness. This item is exhaustively demanded, both in training and in the daily preparation routine of the CFN military, which, through the Admiral Adalberto Nunes Physical Education Center (CEFAN), is in charge of conducting the Physical Education Policy, not only in the Marines sector, but for the entire Navy.
Another aspect of Physical Education under the responsibility of the CFN is Sport. Alongside military training, sport strengthens camaraderie and maintains the troops’ spirit of teamwork and overcoming obstacles, ensuring physical health. Among other duties, the Navy Sports Commission, subordinate to the CGCFN, coordinates the preparation and participation of the Force’s representative teams in international military competitions, as well as managing the Navy Olympic Program (PROLIM), whose purpose is to develop national sport, strengthen the maritime mentality and project the image of the Naval Force.
PROLIM currently has 242 military athletes in the various disciplines. In 2020, of the 21 Brazilian medals at the Tokyo Olympics, eight were won by military athletes, six of whom belonged to PROLIM. In 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, of the 19 medals, 13 were won by competitors from the Armed Forces, six of whom were Naval Force athletes. In 2012, in London, five of the 17 medals came from military athletes, two of whom were from the Navy.
Marines Day
On March 7, 1808, the Royal Marine Brigade arrived in Brazil with the Portuguese Royal Family, which was moving the seat of the kingdom to Brazil. This unit was the embryo of the current Brazilian Marine Corps (CFN) and March 7 became the anniversary date of the Brazilian amphibious troops. As of this year, which marks the 216th anniversary of the CFN, the date is now known as Marine Corps Day. For more information on the history and current affairs of the CFN.
Source: Agência Marinha de Notícias *** Translated by DEFCONPress FYI Team ***