The Brazilian Army (Portuguese: Exército Brasileiro) is the land arm of the Brazilian Armed Forces. The Brazilian Army has fought in several international conflicts, mostly in South America during the 19th century. In the 20th century, it fought on the Allied side in World War I and World War II. Aligned with the Western Bloc, during the time of military dictatorship in Brazil from 1964 to 1985, it also had active participation in the Cold War, in Latin America and Southern Portuguese Africa,as well as taking part in UN peacekeeping missions worldwide since the late 1950s.
Domestically, besides having faced several rebellions throughout these two centuries, with support of local political and economic elites, it also ended the monarchy and imposed on the rest of society its political views and economic development projects during the periods that it ruled the country: 1889–94, 1930–50 (First Vargas period and Dutra years), and 1964–85.
Brazil's armed forces are the second largest in the Americas, after the United States, and the largest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere by the level of military equipment, with 334,500 active-duty troops and officers.
In Brazil, conscription is mandatory for every male who has turned 18 years old. It normally lasts for twelve months. But in practice people are not forced to serve against their will. Military service was first made mandatory in 1906, during Afonso Pena's government
Brazil operates the most respected Jungle Warfare training center in the world (CIGS)
Personnel
The Brazilian Army had a recorded personnel strength of 219,585 active personnel in 2014. Another estimate by the IISS in 2014 put that figure at 190,000 active personnel, with 70,000 of those being conscripts. In addition there were approximately 1,340,000 reserve personnel in 2014. This figure was down from 1,800,000 reserve personnel in 2008. In principle, the Brazilian Constitution designates the 400,000-strong Brazilian Military Police as a reserve force of the Army, although in practice they remain separate entities.
As of 2018 the size of the active component of the Brazilian Army was approximately 235,000 personnel in active service.
Conscription
According to Article 143 of the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, military service is mandatory for men, but conscientious objection is allowed. Women and clergymen are exempt from compulsory military service. At the year that they complete age eighteen, men are required to register for the draft and are expected to serve when they reach age nineteen. About 95 percent of those registering receive deferments. A growing number of recruits are volunteers, accounting for about two-thirds of the total. Those who serve generally spend one year of regular enlistment at an army garrison near their home. Some are allowed nine-month service terms but are expected to complete high school at the same time. These are called "Tiros de Guerra" or "shooting schools", which are for high school boys in medium-sized interior towns, run by army senior NCO, first sergeants or sublieutenants, and rarely a second lieutenant. In Brazilian Armed Forces, first sergeants may be promoted to the officers rank, as second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain, becoming part of the Auxiliary Officers Corps. The army is the only service with a large number of conscripts; the navy and air force have very few.
The conscript system is primarily a means of providing basic military training to a sizable group of young men who then return to civilian life and are retained on the reserve rolls until age forty-five. The army recognizes that it provides a public service by teaching large numbers of conscripts basic skills that can be valuable to the overall economy when the young men return to civilian life.
Indigenous people in the Army
The genesis of the current Army in the fight against the foreign invader, in the 17th century, counted on the decisive participation of Felipe Camarão, named by the Portuguese court as Captain-Mor among the native indigenous peoples of Brazil. Along with Francisco Barreto de Meneses, André Vidal de Negreiros, Henrique Dias and João Fernandes Vieira, he was one of the patriarchs of the Brazilian Army.
Female soldier of the Brazilian Army in the 72nd Motorized Infantry Battalion.
In that sense, in the early 20th century, Marshal Cândido Mariano Rondon, a descendant of the Bororó, Terena and Guará ethnic groups, served in the Army. A pioneer of the Brazilian West and Amazonian frontiers, Rondon was noted for his respect for the indigenous peoples found in his exploratory missions. He is the Patron of the Signals Corps. Today's Army counts a number of ethnic community personnel among its ranks, especially in the western borders and the tough jungles of the Amazon.
Women in the Army
Women's participation in the Army is not without precedent. In 1823, Maria Quitéria de Jesus fought alongside other soldiers for Brazilian independence; during World War II (1939-1945), 73 Brazilian nurses served in various U.S. Army hospitals; and in 1992, the Brazilian Army Leadership Academy enrolled its first class of 49 women, admitting them into that institution's Auxiliary Officer Corps. Female service members were limited to support duties such as administration, health care, and teaching. The innovation is women's entry into combat career paths.
To begin a career with the army as officers, women must have completed a bachelor's degree in areas such as law, computer science, economics, or accounting. The competition is national in scope, and no applicant may be more than thirty-six years of age. Those accepted into the program study at the Army's School of Complementary Formation (former Army's School of Administration) in Salvador, beginning as first lieutenants (reserve). The School of Complementary Formation is also open to men. At the end of the one-year course, the graduate is promoted to first lieutenant in the permanent ranks. If starting a career in the enlisted ranks, any woman enlistee would be required to at least be a secondary school graduate.
