The Portuguese Army is the land component of the Armed Forces of Portugal and is its largest branch. It is charged with the defence in co-operation with other branches of the Armed Forces. With its origins going back to the 12th century, it can be considered as one of the oldest armies in the world; the Portuguese Army is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Army, a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for the operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Ministry of National Defense for all other matters. The CEME is the only officer in the Army with the rank of General. Presently, the Portuguese Army is an professional force made of career personnel and of volunteer personnel; until the early 1990s, conscripts constituted the bulk of the Army personnel, with a cadre of career officers and NCOs responsible for their training. Conscription was however reduced since the middle 1990s, until being formally abolished in 2004; as 2014, the Portuguese Army employed 5,667 career personnel and 10,444 volunteers, this representing a total of 16,111 military personnel.

Of the total military personnel, 2,669 were officers, 3,917 were NCOs and 9,595 were other ranks. Further, the Army included 1,897 civilian employees; the national deployed forces are units or teams deployed by the Portuguese Armed Forces in foreign missions in the scope of NATO, the United Nations or the European Union. The Portuguese Army maintains forces or elements deployed in the following international missions: Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan UNAMA in Afghanistan KFOR in Kosovo MINUSMA in Mali Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq EUTM-Somalia in Uganda MINUSCA in the Central African Republic The technical-military cooperation are the military missions permanently maintained by Portugal in several members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries to train and support their national armed forces; the Portuguese Army maintains elements deployed in the following CTM missions: CTM Angola CTM Cape Verde CTM Guinea-Bissau CTM Mozambique CTM São Tomé and Príncipe CTM Timor-Leste The Portuguese Army has a long history, directly connected to the history of Portugal since its early beginnings.

The Portuguese Army has its remote origins in the military forces of the County of Portugal that allowed its ruler, Afonso Henriques, to obtain its independence from the Kingdom of León and to enlarge its territory in the 12th century. The victory of the Portuguese forces in the battle of São Mamede, on 24 June 1128, is considered the seminal event for the foundation of the independent Portugal, leading to Afonso Henriques to style himself as Prince; the Portuguese forces were involved in the Reconquista, successively advancing south to reconquer territories occupied by the Moors and expand the territory of Portugal. On 25 July 1139, the Portuguese troops obtain a spectacular victory over five Moorish kings in the Battle of Ourique, after its end proclaiming Afonso Henriques as King of the Portuguese. Under the Treaty of Zamora, signed on 5 October 1143, Portugal was recognized as an independent Kingdom. In 1147, an important step in the Reconquista is done, with the conquest of the city of Lisbon to the moors.

The Portuguese part of the Reconquista would came to an end in 1249, with the complete recapture of the Algarve. The Portuguese ground forces of that time were formed by military contingents provided by the landlords, called the mesnadas. To these were added the knights of the military orders and the knights of the border towns; these contingents were collectively referred as the Hoste, under the supreme command of the Monarch, but who delegated his command in the Alferes-Mor. These forces included bands of irregular riders of some warlords, which attacked the moor fortresses by surprise taken advante of the night or of the bad weather. For certain military campaigns, like the siege of Lisbon, the Portuguese forces were reinforced by Crusaders from the Northern Europe, who happened to be passing by the Portuguese coasts, on their way to the Holy Land. With the resettling of the territories conquered to the Moors and the establishment of new towns and municipalities, these increased their contribution of municipal contingents of horse and foot troops.

The municipal military service was regulated, with the establishment of a defensive service, an offensive service and the possibility of the replacement of the presential military service by the payment of special taxes. In the 14th century, the Portuguese troops defeated Castilian invaders, obtaining a definitive victory in the Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. With the independence guaranteed, Portugal began its worldwide overseas expansion, starting by the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa in 1415. Organization of the Portuguese military developed during the Middle Ages, leading to a more complex structure and the consequent creation of new command offices. Thus, in 1383, the office of Constable of Portugal was created, replacing the Alferes-Mor as the head of the military; the Constable was assisted by the Marshal of Portugal. Other Portuguese important military offices that existed were those of fronteiro-mor, of Coudel-Mor and of Anadel-

The 2008 Missouri Tigers football team represented the University of Missouri in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Gary Pinkel, who returned in his eighth season with Mizzou, played their home games at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Quarterback Chase Daniel returned for his final year of eligibility and led the Tigers to a second appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game. Key Losses: SS Cornelius "Pig" Brown WR William Franklin OT Tyler Luellen TE Martin Rucker C Adam Spieker RB Tony TempleFive junior Tigers will return for the 2008 season after turning down the NFL Draft, including QB Chase Daniel, TE Chase Coffman, SS William Moore, Delaware Stryker Sulak and DT Ziggy Hood; the Tigers will have 10 on defense and six on offense. Redshirt freshman DE John Stull was removed from the team on January 11, 2008, after being arrested on drug charges.22 Recruits list. Following their Cotton Bowl Classic victory, Mizzou landed a number of committed recruits from the state of Missouri.

QB Blaine Gabbert from Ballwin, Missouri is the No. 1 rated prep player in the state of Missouri, No. 1 rated pro-style quarterback in his recruiting class. And the Tigers landed him after he had committed to Nebraska. According to Rivals rankings, the Tigers landed WR Wes Kemp, TE Andrew Jones, DE Alden Smith and RB Drew Temple, brother of former Tigers player Tony Temple all from in-state high schools. From out of state, the Tigers landed OT Dan Hoch, who like Gabbert committed to Nebraska. Missouri Tigers schedule In a close contest where Missouri held a big lead for most of the game, Illinois cuts it to within 10 near the end but gets no closer. Missouri takes a commanding 42-0 lead over their FCS competition in their best defensive performance of the year, the first half showcased their offensive abilities; the second half was a mere formality. Derrick Washington, Jeremy Maclin, Jeff Wolfert scored for Missouri, Colin Kaepernick rushed for a 1-yard touchdown for Nevada in the first quarter.

Chase Daniel passed to Jared Perry for 27 yards for a 2nd-quarter touchdown. Brett Jaekle kicked a field goal followed by Washington's 2-yard touchdown for Missouri. Maclin caught a pass from Daniel for Missouri, followed by a Kaepernick pass to Marko Mitchell for a Nevada touchdown. Third quarter was all Missouri. Daniel passed to Maclin for a 49-yard touchdown, Tommy Saunders passed to Chase Coffman for a 32-yard touchdown and Chase Paton rushed for a 3-yard touchdown. Jeff Wolfert kicked a 24-yard field goal for Missouri. Missouri still won in commanding fashion. Chase Daniel threw three touchdown passes, Derrick Washington ran for 139 yards and scored three times, as Missouri mopped up Nebraska for their first road win against the Cornhuskers in 30 years; the Tigers never had to punt all game. The 35-point defeat was the Huskers' most lopsided home loss in 53 years. Oklahoma State handed Missouri their first loss as well as forced their first three and outs all year, giving teams a blueprint on how to slow down the Tigers' "video game offense" which looked unstoppable up to that point.

Sportscasters touted the 2005 contest with the Missouri Tigers as a showcase between two of the best dual-threat quarterbacks playing in college football, pitting Missouri quarterback Brad Smith against Vince Young of Texas. The two players combined for 582 yards total offense. Both Young and Smith led their respective team in rushing yards. Young had 108 rushing yards while Smith had 57. Young had 236 passing yards compared to Smith's 181. Texas won the game 51–20 to extend its series lead over Missouri to 15–5; the two teams did not face each other in 2006 or 2007. Like the 2005 game, the 2008 matchup was billed as a battle between two great quarterbacks, Colt McCoy of Texas and Chase Daniel of Missouri having both been mentioned as possible Heisman trophy candidates. Texas was playing their first home game as a number-one ranked team since 1977. Missouri won their first five games of 2008 and had moved into third place in the nation before they were upset at home by the Oklahoma State Cowboys and fell to eleventh place.

The Tigers came into the game with a 0-10 record against number-one ranked teams, they had not won a football game in Austin since 1896. To help ensure that the Longhorns did not dwell on the emotional victory over the Sooners one week earlier, the UT coaching staff called the team together and buried the TX/OU game ball in the UT practice field on the Monday before the game; the morning of the game the betting line on the morning of the game was Texas by 4½ points. The temperature was 72 °F with clear skies. ESPN College GameDay was in Austin for the game, which set a new attendance record of 98,383. Missouri won the coin elected to receive the kickoff, they returned the ball to their 40 yard-line. On the first play from scrimmage, Missouri tried a reverse, but Texas dropped them for a loss and Missouri went three-and-out. Missouri had gone without a three-and-out for the whole season until having two during their loss the previous week against Oklahoma State; the Missouri punt rolled to the Texas 5-yard line.

Colt McCoy led the Longhorns 95-yards for a touchdown. Texas scored a touchdown each time, taking a 35-0 lead. Missouri scored a field goal at the end of the first half to make the score 35-3. Texas was forced to punt on their first possession of the second half and Missouri scored a touchdown to narrow the lead to 35-10. Texas rebounded with a touchdown and Missouri was never able t

Bastian Vasquez known as Abu Safiyyah, was a Norwegian jihadist who made prominent appearances in propaganda videos for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He is presumed to have died in a non-combat infighting incident. Born in Skien, Norway with a Chilean background, he was in a group of hip hop singers. Vasquez joined the Norwegian Islamist group Profetens Ummah recruited by Mohyeldeen Mohammad, after having converted to Islam in his teens, he lived in Barcelona. He joined ISIL and travelled to Syria in 2012, he was due to meet in court in 2013 for having uploaded a video on YouTube, for which he was charged with making threats against the Norwegian government and the King of Norway. On 29 June 2014 Vasquez appeared as the presenter in an ISIL propaganda video released by Al Hayat Media Center and titled The End of Sykes-Picot, where he is seen showing a group of captives in a building, after which the building was blown up with Vasquez seen laughing and praising Allah, he appeared in a video where he described how he and others had killed Iraqi soldiers, where a police station was blown up.

Following the publication of the videos, he was charged under Norway's anti-terror laws and wanted through Interpol, while his bank accounts were frozen. Although described as having risen through the ranks in the leadership of ISIL, others have claimed that his role was limited to propaganda work. Vasquez is reported to have stopped all communications with people in Norway in January, or in April/May 2015, he is presumed to have been killed as part of infighting in ISIL, with differing theories on the specific sequence of events. Author Åsne Seierstad wrote in her book Two Sisters that Vasquez was executed by ISIS after he had killed the son of Arfan Bhatti, a leading figure in the Norwegian Islamist group Profetens Ummah