Presently, most of the Paratroopers are part of the Portuguese Rapid Reaction Brigade which comprises all 3 special forces troops.

The main operational formation of the CTA was the Independent Airborne Brigade (Brigada Aerotransportada Independente) or BAI.

The CTA was created in 1993, when the Paratroopers were transferred to the Army, succeeding the Parachute Troops Command (Comando de Tropas Paraquedistas), that had the same functions within the Air Force.

The CTA was extinct in the Army reorganization of 2006, at the same time the BAI being transformed in the Rapid Reaction Brigade or BrigRR.

Two Portuguese Army captains went to France to take the French parachute course at the École des Troupes Aéroportées.

The BCP was provisionally installed in the Carregueira Military Camp, near Lisbon, but soon it was moved to Tancos, which still serves today as the main base of the Portuguese Paratroopers.

By this time, the men were armed with the modern 7,62mm ArmaLite AR-10 battle rifle, a weapon previously not seen in Western military forces.

[1] To fight the various separatist guerrilla movements, additional Paratroopers battalions were created in the Portuguese African territories of Angola, Guinea and Mozambique.

On April 25, 1974, a military coup led by left-wing members of the Portuguese Army ended the authoritarian government regime in Portugal, and the country moved towards fully democratic elections.

The dynamic structure of the CTP would consist of its operational parachute units, the great majority of them being concentrated in the new Paratroopers Light Brigade (Brigada Ligeira de Páraquedistas) or BriParas.

As part of its strengthening, the new brigade received 105 mm guns (replacing the heavy mortars as its main artillery) and wheeled armored vehicles.

The 3rd Airborne Infantry Battalion and Anti-Tank Company were disbanded and the other two BIAT were renamed Paratrooper Infantry Battalions (BIParas), the São Jacinto Military Area was renamed 10th Infantry Regiment, the Airborne Artillery Group and the Services and Support Battalion were transferred to the Intervention Brigade and their no longer Airborne capable and the Engineering Company and the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battery were reduced to platoon size.