Fernando Augusto Colaço Leal Robles or Fernando Robles was a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 Second Lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

 who participated in initial counterinsurgency operations against insurgent União dos Povos de Angola (UPA) guerrillas operating in northern Angola

Angola (Portugal)

Angola is the common name by which the Portuguese colony in southwestern Africa was known across different periods of time...

 during 1961, at the onset of the Portuguese Colonial War

Portuguese Colonial War

The Portuguese Colonial War , also known in Portugal as the Overseas War or in the former colonies as the War of liberation , was fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974, when the Portuguese regime was...

.

Career

Robles was initially commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry. In 1960, he volunteered for training and assignment to a new Portuguese special operations and counterinsurgency force, the Companhias de Caçadores Especiais (Special Hunter companies, or CCE). The initial Caçadores Especiais companies were composed of volunteers from standard infantry units who were considered better adapted for intensive training in antiguerrilla operations. Trained at the Centro de Instrução de Operações Especiais (CIOE, or Center for Special Operations Instruction) in Lamego

Lamego

Lamego is a municipality in northern Portugal, with a population of 27,054 inhabitants Lamego is a municipality in northern Portugal, with a population of 27,054 inhabitants Lamego is a municipality in northern Portugal, with a population of 27,054 inhabitants (the catchment of the city of...

, the CCE were the first troops to wear the beret and camouflage combat uniform in combat.

Robles duly graduated and was assigned to the 6ª Companhia de Caçadores Especiais, which deployed to Luanda

Luanda

Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...

, Angola the same year along with three other Caçadores Especiais companies. While participating in operations in northern Angola against UPA rebels operating in and round the town of Dembos

Dembos

Dembos is a town and municipality in Cuanza Norte Province in Angola....

, in Cuanza Norte

Cuanza Norte

Cuanza Norte or Kwanza Norte is a province of Angola. N'Dalantando is the capital and it has an area of 24,110 km² and a population of approximately 400,000. According to 1988 US government statistics, the province has a population of 365,100, with just 18,000 living in urban areas. Manuel Pedro...

Province in Angola, the 6ª Companhia de Caçadores Especiais became notorious for its reprisals against native Angolans in a brutal “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” counterinsurgency campaign.

For his bravery while participating in operations against the UPA, 2nd Lt. Robles was awarded the Medalha de Prata de Valor Militar com palma (Silver Military Medal of Valor with Palm).