The Brazilian Armed Forces (Forças Armadas Brasileiras) is the largest in South America with over 370,000 active duty personnel. The three primary branches of service are the Army (Exército), Navy (Marinha), and the Air Force (Forças Aérea). Since 1994 the branches of service have been heavily active with United Nations peacekeeping missions. The Polícia Militar (PM) or Military Police are a national gendarmerie of independent agencies responsible for maintaining order within the individual states. Conventional law enforcement such as criminal investigations, etc is handled by the Civil Police.
