A soldier removing a sheep on his shoulders from an area that had been submerged by the waters of the River Lis. A Navy boat acting as a taxi, transporting people who had been stranded in isolated villages to go do something as simple as grocery shopping. An Armed Forces clinical team carrying out routine examinations on an elderly woman who had been unable to see a doctor for days. For weeks, when Portugal was hit by the devastating train of storms, images of members of the Armed Forces participating in relief operations were a constant in the news cycle, even if the start of this support was criticized by mayors in the most affected regions, who complained about some slowness in arriving on the ground.
What is certain is that, after the most difficult phase, the assessment that the Portuguese make of the work of the Armed Forces in supporting the population is quite positive. The conclusion results from the DN / Aximage Barometer that we published this Tuesday, March 10th, whose field work took place on March 2nd and 3rd, in which 78% of those questioned consider the intervention of the military to be positive (55%) or very positive (23%), and when the question is asked to residents in the Central region of Portugal – the most affected by atmospheric phenomena and, consequently, the region where most inhabitants witnessed first-hand the work of Armed Forces – the percentage of favorable opinions is 72%.
The data takes on even greater relevance for the image of the military because the barometer compares their actions with those of mayors and the Government. And if the first ones get a positive rating (69%), the Government’s performance is criticized, with 58% negative evaluations. The troubled management of the crisis even led to the dismissal of Maria Lúcia Amaral from the Internal Administration.
The greater use of human and logistical resources of the Armed Forces in operations that are not just the defense and patrolling of the territory or international military missions and exercises is a path of no return, especially because it does not bring disadvantages to anyone. Although the war in Ukraine has awakened among the Portuguese (and Europeans in general) a greater awareness of the importance of Defense, the financial investment that is necessary to make in this reinforcement, to be better understood, needs to be translated into added value that meets the daily reality of the population, especially at critical times such as the fire season or the increasingly severe weather that the country faces.
The so-called ‘dual use’ of the Armed Forces is a situation win-wineveryone wins. However, to be effective, more than one concept must become the standard model. And, for this to be expeditious, it is necessary to fine-tune the coordination between Civil Protection and the Armed Forces, as Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa requested before leaving the Presidency. We must take into account the military’s golden rule: there must be an order. And, when this is most urgent, it is important that you do not drag yourself through the bureaucratic labyrinths of the State.
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