There is a high sports component in the curriculum which includes, among others, fencing, horse riding, competition gymnastics, and shooting.

Many of its former students have influenced the development of the Portuguese society since the mid-19th century, such as five presidents of the Portuguese Republic (Field Marshals Gomes da Costa, Óscar Carmona, Craveiro Lopes, António de Spínola and Costa Gomes), prominent military men such as Morais Sarmento and Óscar Monteiro Torres, writers such as Manuel Pinheiro Chagas and Júlio Dantas, explorers like Serpa Pinto and Henrique Carvalho, artists, musicians and actors such as Tomás Alcaide, Raúl de Carvalho, Artur Semedo, Raúl Ferrão and Luís Esparteiro, politicians such as António Sérgio, Humberto Delgado and Tito Morais and many others.

Its anniversary is celebrated on 3 March with a parade descending "Avenida da Liberdade", Lisbon's main avenue.

The Portuguese Colégio Militar gave birth to a net of twelve military schools in Brazil (Porto Alegre, Santa Maria, Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Juíz de Fora, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Manaus, Brasília and Campo Grande) built in cooperation with the Portuguese experience of a centenary school with high levels of success.

This is a list of alumni with their own articles: The dress uniform of the Colégio Militar is in the distinctive maroon/brown colour worn by various regiments of the Portuguese Army since the end of the 18th century.