Brazilian Army

Brazilian Army
Exército Brasileiro
The Brazilian Army's emblem
Founded	1822 (1822) (de facto) 1 November 1824 (1824-11-01) (de jure)[1]
Country	Brazil
Allegiance	Ministry of Defense
Type	Army
Role	Land warfare
Size	212,217 active (2024)[2] Over 1,000,000 reserve (2017)[3]
Part of	Brazilian Armed Forces
Command Headquarters	Brasília, Brazil
Nickname(s)	EB
Patron	The Duke of Caxias
Motto(s)	Braço forte, mão amiga[4] ("Strong arm, friendly hand")
Colors	sky blue   red (heraldic colors)[5]
March	Canção do Exército ("Army Song") Playⓘ
Anniversaries	19 April (Army Day)[6]
Equipment	See list
Engagements	List War of Independence (1822–1825) Confederation of the Equator (1824) Invasion of Chiquitos (1825) Cisplatine War (1825–1828) Mercenaries' Revolt (1828) Cabanada (1832–1835) Malê revolt (1835) Cabanagem (1835–1840) Liberal rebellions (1842) Ragamuffin War (1835–1845) Sabinada (1837–1838) Balaiada (1838–1841) Praieira revolt (1848–1849) Uruguayan Civil War (1839–1851) Platine War (1851–1852) Uruguayan War (1864–1865) Paraguayan War (1864–1870) Revolt of the Muckers (1873–1874) Proclamation of the Republic (1889) Naval Revolts (1893–1894) Federalist Revolution (1893–1895) French intrusion in Amapá (1895) War of Canudos (1896–1897) Acre War (1899–1903) Contestado War (1912–1916) World War I (1917–1918) Tenente revolts (1922–1927) Revolution of 1930 (1930) Constitutionalist Revolution (1932) Communist uprising (1935) World War II (1944–1945) Operation Powerpack (1965–1966) Araguaia Guerrilla War (1972–1974) Operation Traíra (1991) Rio de Janeiro Security Crisis (2010) UN missions Suez (1956–1967) Mozambique (1992–1994) Angola (1995–1997) Prevlaka (1996–2002) East Timor (1999–2005) Haiti (2004–2017) South Sudan (2011–2018)
Website	www.eb.mil.br
Commanders
Commander-in-chief	Lula da Silva
Minister of Defence	José Múcio
Army Commander	Tomás Ribeiro Paiva
Insignia
Coat of Arms
Flag

Brazilian Army of the Brazilian Armed Forces
History and future
19th century 20th century 21st century Future
Commands and components
High Command General Staff Aviation Command
Air and space command
COMAE
Equipment
Current
v t e

The Brazilian Army (Portuguese: Exército Brasileiro; EB) is the branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible, externally, for defending the country in eminently terrestrial operations and, internally, for guaranteeing law, order and the constitutional branches, subordinating itself, in the Federal Government's structure, to the Ministry of Defense, alongside the Brazilian Navy and Air Force. The Military Police (Polícias Militares; PMs) and Military Firefighters Corps (Corpos de Bombeiros Militares; CBMs) are legally designated as reserve and auxiliary forces to the army. Its operational arm is called Land Force. It is the largest army in South America and the largest branch of the Armed Forces of Brazil.

Emerging from the defense forces of the Portuguese Empire in Colonial Brazil as the Imperial Brazilian Army, its two main conventional warfare experiences were the Paraguayan War and the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, and its traditional rival in planning, until the 1990s, was Argentina, but the army also has many peacekeeping operations abroad and internal operations in Brazil. The Brazilian Army was directly responsible for the Proclamation of the Republic and gradually increased its capacity for political action, culminating in the military dictatorship of 1964–1985. Throughout Brazilian history, it safeguarded central authority against separatism and regionalism, intervened where unresolved social issues became violent and filled gaps left by other State institutions.

Changes in military doctrine, personnel, organization and equipment mark the history of the army, with the current phase, since 2010, known as the Army Transformation Process. Its presence strategy extends it throughout Brazil's territory, and the institution considers itself the only guarantee of Brazilianness in the most distant regions of the country. There are specialized forces for different terrains (jungle, mountain, Pantanal, Caatinga and urban) and rapid deployment forces (Army Aviation, Special Operations Command and parachute and airmobile brigades). The armored and mechanized forces, concentrated in Southern Brazil, are the most numerous on the continent, but include many vehicles nearing the end of their life cycle. The basic combined arms unit is the brigade.

Conventional military organizations train corporals and reservist soldiers through mandatory military service. There is a broad system of instruction, education and research, with the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras (Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras; AMAN) responsible for training the institution's leading elements: officers of infantry, cavalry, engineering, artillery and communications, the Quartermaster Service and the Ordnance Board. This system and the army's own health, housing and religious assistance services, are mechanisms through which it seeks to maintain its distinction from the rest of society.