The Army created the Information Warfare and Cyberdefense Center and the Air Force restructured the Air Command, as part of the reform of the Armed Forces Superior Structure that began in 2021 and regulation has now been completed.
In a note to the press, the Ministry of National Defense recalls that on February 2 in the Council of Ministers, the government approved “the regulatory decree finalizing the reform of the superior structure of the armed forces, which started in 2021, with the review of the National Defense Law and with the adoption of the new Organic Basic Law of the Organization of the Armed Forces (LOBOFA)”.
The ministry headed by Helena Carreiras writes that “this diploma approves the organic structure of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (EMGFA) and changes the organic structures of the Navy, Army and Air Force to reflect the new legislative framework. and to ensure the necessary coordination of processes and structural coherence”.
The government points out that “in view of the relevance of the fields of information warfare in an international context, the Information Warfare and Cyberdefense Center and the Army Transmissions Center are being set up in the Army, with the aim of strengthening the response capacity in these areas”.
“The Tactical Training, Simulation and Certification Center is also being established, with the aim of preparing the operational product on the ground for today’s emerging threats,” he added.
In the Air Force, “the central administrative and management bodies have been restructured and the powers of the Mission Coordinating Office in the context of Rural Fires have been defined”.
“The Air Command has also been restructured to reflect greater structural coherence from the outset, with the creation of Air Base No. 8, at Ovar, by transforming Maneuver Airfield No. 1,” it reads.
In the Navy, “several powers of the Navy General Staff are being updated, arising from the need to ensure the coordination, supervision and control of activities related to transformation, as well as the promotion of innovation”.
As for the EMGFA, the ministry highlights the new organic law, published in Diário da República in January last year, which creates a new body called the Joint Chiefs of Staff (EMC) “to support the decision of the Chief of Staff – General of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA) in terms of perspective and strategic planning”.
Also worth mentioning is “the strengthening of the Joint Military Operations Command, which now has coordinating authority in the relationship with the operational commands of the Azores and Madeira and with the constituent commands of the divisions”.
“The powers of the Military Health Directorate are also being strengthened, which now has technical and functional autonomy over all military health agencies. The Center for Communications and Information, Cyberspace and Space is also being created, which will establish a department for the military aspects of National Defense integrated space program”, is added.
In January 2022, the President of the Republic issued the Government Decree establishing the Organic Law of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and amended the Organic Laws of its three branches, following the reform of the superior military structure.
This revision followed the adoption of the new Organic Basic Law of the Armed Forces Organization (LOBOFA) and the amendments to the National Defense Law (LDN), which had already been passed by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in August 2021, following its adoption in Parliament on June 25 of that year, with votes for the PS, the PSD and the CDS-PP.
The laws essentially concentrate more powers and authority on the figure of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (CEMGFA), who is now responsible for carrying out all the armed forces’ missions, with the exception of search and rescue. sea and sky. The heads of the three military branches report hierarchically to the CEMGFA for all matters of a military nature.
Source: DN
