Manzikert
3/27/09

I heard that at the time of the colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique, Portuguese males had to serve three years in the military. Were they required to do combat duty in the colonies and what was a typical tour of duty for a conscript? Were most of the Portuguese combat soldiers volunteers or draftees? What was the proportion of professional soldiers to draftees in the field?

What was the maximum time period that any Portuguese combatant was allowed to serve in combat or was there no limit? Does anyone know of any exceptional periods of service in the Angolan or Mozambiquean theatres?

Was it typical for conscripts or professional soldiers to serve in different theatres or just one?

Sorry for all these questions if anyone can answer them or knows a useful source of information, preferrably in English but would have a go at Portuguese if there is nothing else.