The Minister of Defense defended this Monday in Tancos, on Paratrooper’s Day, the need to “recruit, retain and qualify better” to maintain the qualitative level of the missions carried out by the special troop, after having paid tribute to two recently deceased soldiers .
Before thousands of paratroopers from all over the country who gathered to celebrate Unity Day and the 66th anniversary of the Parachute Regiment, after two years of hiatus due to the pandemic, Helena Carreiras highlighted the “combat potential, flexibility and the insertion capacity that distinguishes it from the others”, remembering the 46 thousand parachutists trained in the Escola de Tropas Paraquedistas since its foundation, many of them present in Tancos, Vila Nova da Barquinha (Santarém).
“The legacy that parachutists carry with deserved pride is a legacy that honors Portugal (…) based on a high state of readiness, accepting the challenge of responding to the needs of operational commitment that have successively been presented to them, (…) characteristics that allow, at the national level, that paratroopers are frequently called to constitute the land component of the Immediate Reaction Force (FRI)”, said the minister.
At the international level, he recalled, “the paratroopers were the first forces in key scenarios such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Timor-Leste”, and pointed out that, since 2016, they have been called to compose (…) the United Nations Reaction Force in the Central African Republic, with “recognitions granted by international entities – such as the United Nations medals in recognition of the effort and professionalism shown – or the “warm welcome they have received from the local populations”.
Helena Carreiras also said that the Portuguese army has been “responsible for visible impacts on the ground, improve security conditions” of those who most aim to protect.
“For the quality of this performance, the specificity of their education and training is essential, which also forces us to be very careful in promoting such determining qualities as integrity, loyalty, camaraderie, or the ability to adapt, and that necessarily happens through the encounter. the specifics of your mission and, at the same time, the needs that are common to all the men and women of the Armed Forces”, he pointed out.
In that sense, he continued, mandate “is a priority” “to be able to recruit better, retain better and qualify better, ensuring the conditions for the fulfillment of all the missions assigned to it. We want you to continue to be a reference for other young people and that your path continues to serve as an example to those who choose to embrace the mission of protecting Portugal”, stressed Carreiras, then recalling the soldiers who have fallen in service.
“Unfortunately, we also know the cost that this mission can sometimes bring. (…) This is what happened when, in the recent past, two military parachutists died in service, and in the service of Portugal. In 2019, with Parachutist First Sergeant Manuel Teixeira Gonçalves, instructor, pioneer and operational high jumper. And, again this year, with Sergeant Major Alexandra Serrano Rosa, pioneer of a new generation and the only female skydiving instructor to date,” he recalled.
Parachutist died in a jump in Arrepiado field, in Chamusca
“These two cases have left the Portuguese Army and the entire National Defense community in mourning”said the Minister of Defense, who honored the two soldiers with the posthumous delivery of the decoration for distinguished services, copper grade, which he presented to the families of the victims.
Helena Carreiras considered that, “since risk is an element inherent to the military condition”, it is necessary to “accept its consequences, always trying to mitigate it”.
“But we also know that the death of these soldiers embodies the deepest and most valuable part of the military condition: total dedication to the mission, even with the sacrifice of one’s own life, for the greater good,” he concluded.
Alexandra Serrano Rosa, 52, died in April of this year in Arrepiado (Chamusca) when “she was making a manual opening jump to maintain her paratrooper rating”, the parachute system was not working “properly”, which caused the fall fatal sergeant-master.
First Sergeant Manuel Gonçalves died in September 2019, at the age of 34, in a jump at the Beja air base while performing a free fall jump and after the parachute system malfunctioned, according to the Army.
Source: Observadora
