Commander Mário Migue Cortes Sanches

Plans and Policy Division at Portuguese Naval Staff and General Staff Portuguese Navy

Commander Cortes Sanches was born on 14 December 1976 in Lisbon, Portugal. He graduated from the Portuguese Naval Academy and completed his Midshipman training in 1999. Early in his career, he served for four years aboard the corvettes NRP Jacinto Cândido and NRP António Enes as Officer of the Watch, Communications Officer, and Navigation Officer.

He subsequently assumed command of the patrol boat NRP Rio Minho, where he served for two years conducting operations along Portugal's northern border. In late 2005, he attended the Navigation and Warfare Officers Course, after which he was appointed Navigation Officer of the frigate NRP Vasco da Gama. During this assignment, he participated in Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean as part of a Standing NATO Maritime Group 1 deployment. In 2008, Commander Sanches joined the EUNAVFOR Force Headquarters as Staff Battle Watch Captain, contributing to the first and second deployments of Operation Atalanta—an EU anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.

From 2009 to 2013, he served at the Portuguese Navy Training and Evaluation Center as Navigation Coordinator. He was later appointed Head of the Planning and Current Operations Branch at Portuguese Fleet Command, where he also deployed as a liaison officer in Frontex operations INDALO and TRITON. In 2016, he returned to EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta, serving as a Planning Officer at the EU Operational Headquarters in Northwood, United Kingdom. In 2017, he was assigned as Executive Officer of the frigate NRP Vasco da Gama. Since 2018, he has been serving in the Plans and Policy Division within both the Portuguese Naval Staff and the Portuguese General Staff.