Reflections of Roman Military Thought in Brazilian Military Structures: The Process of Army Transformation and the Dissociation of Preparation and Employment in the Brigade

Abstract

This paper seeks to reflect Roman military thinking on the structure of the Compulsory Military Service in Brazil, visualizing them in Brazilian military thinking from the 1st Republic to the current Defense documentation not only in the SMO, but also in political-philosophical and strategic considerations from the Western military thinking based on deterrence, summarized by Vegecio in the phrase "if you want peace, prepare for war." The publication of the current Brazilian Defense documentation could be conceptualized as the systematization of a "Brazilian Defense thought", as it brings together the current conceptions of the Brazilian State, welcoming the concept of deterrence and calling the whole society to the importance of the theme. In conclusion, a proposal is presented to separate the formation of soldiers from the Compulsory Military Service (SMO) from the training of troops, according to the Roman solution to this problem. This included SMO's recruitment of human resources, the decoupling of preparation and employment from troop corps, a proportion of professional soldiers, and an adequate ratio of recruited soldiers to those who remained for longer periods in service. This allowed the Romans to maintain the strategic principles of responsiveness and elasticity as required today in the Brazilian defense documentation.