Education
Left school in 1936 to go to Lisbon Polytechnic. In 1940 he entered the Army School and took a four-year engineering course.
Left school in 1936 to go to Lisbon Polytechnic. In 1940 he entered the Army School and took a four-year engineering course.
Commissioned on April 1, 1945, he was posted to the Azores and became adjutant to the military works service at Ilha Terceira. In 1946 he was transferred to the air force base at Lages where he was a platoon commander supervising the construction of roads and runways and being responsible for fire and electrical services.
In October 1949 he became commander of a training company at the pontoon builders battalion.From 1952 to 1955 he was assigned to the Executive Committee of Military Works as planning engineer and director of construction in charge of aerodrome building. In May 1955 he was posted for a year to the engineering corps of the air force and continued to supervise work on aerodromes.
From April 1956 to December 1957 he served at the air force base at Lages in the Azores in charge of the works section, and in January 1958 he became head of the infrastructure service there. In March 1960 he was posted to Angola as co-director of infrastructure at No. 2 Air Region. He was also put in charge of preparations for the No. 3 air force base in Mozambique. In June 1961 he was given command of the entire infrastructure service at No. 2 Air Region.
Skilled as an instructor and an operations commander, he has acquired the reputation of a military master builder.