Hellenic Army

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This article is about the land force of modern Greece. For the military systems in Ancient Greece, see Hoplite.

Land branch of the Greek military

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Hellenic Army
Ελληνικός Στρατός
APCs 4,840 Artillery pieces
Engagements	Greek War of Independence Crimean War Greco-Turkish War (1897) Balkan Wars Ohrid–Debar uprising World War I Russian Civil War Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) Corfu incident Incident at Petrich World War II Greek Civil War Korean War Turkish Invasion of Cyprus Evros River incident Somali Civil War 1997 Albanian civil unrest Gulf War Kosovo Force War on Terrorism War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Operation Althea EUFOR Tchad/RCA Military Intervention in Libya (2011) EUTM Mali
Website	Hellenic Army
Commanders
Chief of the Army General Staff	Alexander Papagos Lt. Gen. Thrasyvoulos Tsakalotos (see list of generals)
Insignia
Identification marking	ΕΣ
Vehicle marking
Regimental War Flag

Military unit

The Hellenic Army (Greek: Ελληνικός Στρατός, romanized: Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term Hellenic is the endogenous synonym for Greek. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces, also constituted by the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) and the Hellenic Navy (HN). The army is commanded by the chief of the Hellenic Army General Staff (HAGS), which in turn is under the command of Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS).

The motto of the Hellenic Army is Ἐλεύθερον τὸ Εὔψυχον ('Freedom stems from valour'), from

two-headed eagle with a Greek Cross

escutcheon in the centre.

The Hellenic Army is also the main contributor to, and lead nation of, the

Balkan Battle Group, a combined-arms rapid-response force under the EU Battlegroup structure.^[4]

Mission

The main missions of the Hellenic Army are the defence of the state's independence and integrity, the safeguarding of national territory, and the decisive contribution to the achievement of the country's policy objectives.[5]

During peacetime, the Army has the following main objectives:

• The maintenance of high operational readiness for the prevention and effective confrontation of dangers and threats, as well as the ensuring of rapid response capability.
• The contribution to international security and peace.
• The contribution to activities of social aid and the support of state services for the confrontation of emergency situations.

History

Main articles:

History of the Hellenic Army and Timeline of the Hellenic Army

Early history: early 19th century

• 
  Alexander Ypsilantis (in Sacred Band uniform) crosses the Pruth, starting the Greek War of Independence. Painting by Peter von Hess
• 
  Demetrios Ypsilantis was commander of the tactical Greek forces during the Battle of Petra (1829), final battle of the War of Independence
• 
  Theodoros Kolokotronis, the most important commander of the Greek irregular forces during the Revolution
• 
  Panagiotis Rodios, as Army's colonel, one of the early supporters for the creation of regular army during the Revolution

The Hellenic Army traces its origin to the

Charles Fabvier. Under Fabvier, the regular corps expanded, and for the first time came to include cavalry, military music detachments, and, with Lord Byron

's aid, military hospitals.

The governorship of

Expeditionary Corps.^[6]

After Kapodistrias' assassination in 1831 and in the subsequent internal turmoil over the next two years, however, the regular army all but ceased to exist. The first king of the newly independent Greek kingdom, the Bavarian prince

Greco-Turkish War of 1897: plans, fortifications and weapons were non-existent, the mass of the officer corps was unsuited to its tasks, and training was inadequate. As a result, the numerically superior, better organized, equipped and led Ottoman forces pushed the Greek forces south out of Thessaly.^[10][11]

Decade of wars: 1912–1922

WWI

WWII

The dismal performance of the Hellenic Army in the war of 1897 led to a major reform programme under the administration of Georgios Theotokis (1899–1901, 1903–1904 and 1906–1909). A new Army Organization Statute was issued in 1904 (revised in 1910), purchases of new artillery material (including the 75 mm Schneider-Danglis 06/09 gun) and of the Mannlicher–Schönauer rifle were made, and a new, khaki field uniform was introduced in 1908.^[12][13] Reform was accelerated after the Goudi coup of 1909.

The new government under Eleftherios Venizelos brought a French military mission to train the Hellenic Army. Under its supervision, the Greeks had adopted the triangular infantry division as their main formation, but more importantly, the overhaul of the mobilization system allowed the country to field and equip a far greater number of troops than it had in 1897: while foreign observers estimated a mobilized force of approximately 50,000 men, the Army eventually fielded 125,000, with another 140,000 in the National Guard and reserves.^[14][15]

After the victorious Balkan Wars, the country doubled its territory. During the WWI, a disagreement between King Constantine and Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos caused a National Schism, but eventually a united Greece joined in 1917 the Allies.

As a winner of the war, Greece annexed

Greco-Turkish War (1919-22)

, which was unsuccessful for Greece, in 1922.

World War II

The country joined WWII with the Allies side in October 1940, when dictator

Battle of Greece

) fell under the Axis domination.

The exiled Greek government, with units of the Army, were transferred to Middle East, where they continued the war with the Allies.

Leo Niehorster's website shows the higher organisation of the Greek Army on 15 August 1940, with the General Staff of the Army directly supervising five corps, three divisions, and the Thessaloniki Fortress.^[16]

After the war, Greece incorporated

civil war

, which ended with communist defeat.

The army was briefly renamed "Royal Hellenic Army" from August 20th,^[17] to October 25th, 1964,^[18] on the initiative of then Minister of National Defence Petros Garoufalias.

Engagements

In total, the Hellenic Army has taken part in the following engagements:

• Greek War of Independence (1821–1829)
• Greco-Turkish War of 1897
• First Balkan War (1912–1913)
• Second Balkan War (1913)
• First World War
  • Annexation of Northern Epirus (1914–1917)
  • Macedonian Front of World War I
    (1916–1918)
• Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1919)
• Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922
• Second World War
  • Greco-Italian War
    (1940–1941)
  • German invasion and Battle of Crete
    (1941)
  • North African Campaign
    (1941–1943)
  • Italian Campaign
    (1944)
• Greek Civil War (1946–1949)
• Korean War (1950–1953)
• Turkish Invasion of Cyprus
  (1974)
• Kosovo (1999–present)
• War in Afghanistan (2001–2012)
• War on Terrorism
  (2001–present)

Structure

Main article: Structure of the Hellenic Army

12th Div.

16th Div.

20th Div.

1st Div.

2nd Div.

29th

50th

79th NG

80th NG

5th

88th NG

95th NG

96th NG

98th NG

class=notpageimage|

Hellenic Army major combat unit locations
Key: red – infantry, green – mech, gold – armour, purple – aviation
large pin – division, small pin – brigade

• Hellenic National Defence General Staff
  • Hellenic Army General Staff
    Γενικό Επιτελείο Στατού (ΓΕΣ)
    • Chief-of-Staff of the Army
      Αρχηγός ΓΕΣ
    • Inspector General of the Army
      Γενικός Επιθεωρητής Στρατού / Διοικητής ΔΙΔΟΕΕ
    • 1st Deputy Chief-of-Staff of the Army
      A' Υπαρχηγός ΓΕΣ
    • 2nd Deputy-of-Staff of the Army
      Β' Υπαρχηγός ΓΕΣ

Combat and support arms

• Most combat arms are called "Arm" (Όπλον). This term denotes army elements that, more or less, have direct participation in combat.
• Most support branches are called "Corps" (Σώμα), with some exceptions.

Army units and formations

After a major reorganization which occurred in the last decade, which included the transformation of most Infantry formations into Mechanized Brigades and a parallel reduction of personnel, the Hellenic Army's higher command is the Hellenic Army General Staff.

There are four major military commands which supervise all army units,

• 1st Army, based at Larissa, that includes the IV Army Corps, responsible for the defence of the northern and eastern borders.
• Supreme Military Command of the Interior and Islands, based at Athens with the mission to provide cover for the islands in the Aegean Sea
  .
• Supreme Military Support Command undertaking various logistics and organizational tasks.
• NATO Deployable Corps, based at Thessaloniki, Macedonia

Although divisions still exist, having the role of forward commands, the Army is mainly organized in brigades, that follow the typical NATO standards consisting of five battalions, three manoeuvre, one artillery, one support and some other company sized formations. According to the latest developments, up to 2015, all active divisions will dissolve, but all brigades will acquire one more manoeuvre battalion, largely eliminating the distinction between mechanized and armoured formations, thus creating a new type brigade, which will be named Strike Brigade.^[19]

Personnel

There are three classes of personnel in the Hellenic Army, namely professional, volunteer and

Thus, in the chain of command, graduates of the two military academies in Athens and Thessaloniki are considered higher in seniority compared to professional officers of the same rank who graduated from Trikala. The latter officers are followed in seniority by volunteer and finally conscript staff.

During war, the Hellenic army battalions are commanded by either a ranking officer major general or if in a combat mission by another state which in agreement with the Greek state will be commanded by a ranking General of their own.

Ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of

NATO code	OF-10		OF-9		OF-8		OF-7		OF-6		OF-5		OF-4		OF-3		OF-2		OF-1						OF(D)						Student officer
Hellenic Army[21] v t e
			Στρατηγός Stratigos		Αντιστράτηγος Antistratigos		Υποστράτηγος Ypostratigos		Ταξίαρχος Taxiarchos		Συνταγματάρχης Syntagmatarchis		Αντισυνταγματάρχης Antisyntagmatarchis		Ταγματάρχης Tagmatarchis		Λοχαγός Lochagos		Υπολοχαγός Ypolochagos			Ανθυπολοχαγός Anthypolochagos			Δόκιμος Έφεδρος Αξιωματικός Dokimos efedros aksio­matikos

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

NATO rank scale	OR-9						OR-8		OR-7		OR-6						OR-5						OR-4				OR-3		OR-2						OR-1
Hellenic Army[22] v t e																																			Arm/corps insignia only
	Ανθυπασπιστής[a] Anthypaspistis						Αρχιλοχίας Archilochias		Επιλοχίας Epilochias		Λοχίας Lochias												Δεκανέας Dekaneas				Υποδεκανέας Ypodekaneas								Στρατιώτης Stratiotis

Equipment

The heavy equipment and weaponry of the Hellenic Army is mostly of foreign manufacture, from

Equipment runs the gamut from state-of-the art to obsolete Cold War inventories; the latter are gradually being retired.[23]

Uniforms and ranks

• 
  Evzones of the regularized "Typikon" formations established by Kapodistrias, 1830
• 
  Uniforms of officers (left) and enlisted men (right) in the Greek Army in the first period of King Otto's reign. Enlisted men were called oplíte, the ancient hoplite with modern pronunciation.
• 
  Cavalry trooper and officer of 1832, outfitted like Bavarian uhlans with czapki hats, in contrast to the shakos of other branches
• 
  Artillerymen during the early years of King Otto: (left to right) soldier, bombardier, and artillery officer
• 
  Preserved BL 6-inch 30 cwt howitzer of the Greek artillery, War Museum of Thessaloniki
• 
  Army officers that took part in the Macedonian Struggle (c. 1909)
• 
  General and later PM Nikolaos Plastiras
• 
  WWI poster
• 
  Preserved flag of the Greek III Division of the Macedonian front in the National Historical Museum, Athens
• 
  Greek troops with Allies during the

  occupation of Constantinople
• 
  Military formation in the World War I Victory Parade in Arc de Triomphe, Paris
• 
  Greek soldiers at Afyonkarahisar, 1922, Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922). The soldiers wear Adrian helmets and third from left is armed with a Chauchat machine gun.
• 
  Special forces personnel during an exercise, firing an LRAC F1
• 
  ELVO

  Humvee
• 
  Leopard 2A6
• 
  M48 Patton
• 
  M48A5 MOLF
• 
  Greek Army Aviation

  CH-47SD Chinook

  transport helicopter

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

• Michalopoulos, Dimitris. "The Evolution of the Greek Army (1828–68)". War and Society in East Central Europe, Vol. XIV, Brooklyn College Press, 1984, pp. 317–330,
  ISBN 0-88033-043-0
  .
• Η ιστορία της οργάνωσης του Ελληνικού Στρατού, 1821–1954 [The history of the organization of the Hellenic Army, 1821–1954] (in Greek). Hellenic Army Historical Directorate. 2005.
  ISBN 960-7897-45-5
  .

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