The CTOE РCentro de Tropas de Opera̵̤es Especiais (Special Operations Troops Centre), is a unit of the Portuguese Army with the mission of instructing troops in unconventional warfare and Counter-Terrorism.
The CTOE contains an operational unit called DOE, its Special Operations Detachment, popularly known as Rangers, tasked with performing missions similar to the US Army’s Delta Force or British Special Air Service. Some of these missions include conducting Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrols, raids against high-value targets, locating enemy command and control centres, targeting and destruction of enemy air defences and radar systems, and POW rescue operations. The unit can be infiltrated by parachute, helicopter, small boat, or by foot.
The unit members wear a grass green beret and are the heir of the Special Hunters: the beret badge includes a trumpet — a symbol of the Special Hunters; and the unit is known as Rangers because the instructors of the Special Hunters completed the Ranger Course and adapted the characteristics of that training to the Special Operations Course. The unit has operated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, East-Timor, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
