Portuguese Navy
Vice Admiral Jorge Manuel Nobre de Sousa
The new Chief of Staff of the Navy is 2nd Operational Commander of the Armed Forces and heads the Joint Command for Military Operations.
The Vice Admiral Jorge Manuel Nobre de Sousa will be the new Chief of Staff of the Navy, and will take office on Friday at 12:00, the Presidency of the Republic announced this Tuesday.
“Under constitutional terms, upon a proposal from the Government, as per the Deliberation of the Council of Ministers, after hearing the Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, and after hearing the Admiralty Council, through the Minister of National Defense, the President of the Republic decided to appoint Vice-Admiral Jorge Manuel Nobre de Sousa to the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy and promote him to the rank of Admiral”, reads one from the Belém Palace.
Under the terms of the Constitution, the President of the Republic is responsible for appointing and dismissing, upon proposal from the Government, the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the heads of the three military branches.
Vice Admiral Jorge Nobre de Sousa will replace Henrique Gouveia e Melowho took office as Chief of Staff of the Navy on December 27, 2021 and for a second term, paving the way for a possible candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic.
Admiral Gouveia e Melo, whose name appears among the potential candidates for the January 2026 presidential elections, will be put on reserve soon after the end of his term, next Friday.
Jorge Manuel Nobre de Sousa assumed the position of 2nd Operational Commander of the Armed Forces in July 2022, and directs the Joint Command for Military Operations. Born in 1963, he entered the Naval Academy in 1981, and was promoted to midshipman in 1987.
Throughout his career, Vice Admiral integrated numerous missionsnamely NATO, and held several roles, including Deputy Chief of Staff of the Joint Command for Military Operations, naval commander, Chief of Staff of the Naval Command.
Jorge Manuel Nobre de Sousa also served in the Planning Division of the General Staff of the Navy and was commander of the Marine Corps.
He has already received several decorations, having been awarded the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Avis in 2009, which is intended to reward high military services.
O President of the Republic will decorate the outgoing chief of the Navy, Admiral Gouveia e Melo, with the Grand Cross of the Order of Christthe Belém palace also announced.
In the note revealing the name of Jorge Nobre de Sousa as the new chief of the Navy’s General Staff, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa praises Gouveia e Melo’s career and announces the award.
“The President of the Republic thanks and praises the highly qualified performance of the outgoing Admiral Chief of the General Staff of the Navy, in fact, within the framework of a brilliant career, and awards him with the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ”, reads if.
