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Hellenic Army Force Development

On 19 July 2005, the Governmental Council on Defence and Foreign Affairs (KYSEA) approved the New Command and Force Structure of the Hellenic Armed Forces. Under the Force Structure 2005-2020 plan, the Hellenic Armed Forces will be reduced from 178,500 to 142,000. The new force structure encompasses large-scale changes in the Army, while the effects on the Air Force and Navy are minimal. From now on, only two categories of units will exist: active and mobilized. (e.g. to be Mobilized in emergency). Existing semi-active units disbanded. No main weapon systems will be allocated to mobilized units.

The Hellenic National Defence General Staff remains as the unique Joint HQ in strategic and operational level, while the other currently used as joint HQ, are characterized as major operational formations. During peacetime, the operational command of the Hellenic Armed forces is performed by the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff.

There are at least five plausibly authoritative sources for Hellenic Army order of battle: the [apparently defunct] unofficial Hellenic Armed Forces website, at least three dozen wiki knockoffs, the Military Balance of the Internatioanl Insitute of Strategic Studies, Orbat.com data from 2005 and 2010, and the Hellenic Army website, which provides unit flags but precious little other unit information. reporting from other sources establishes the fact that this official website is depicting both currently active units, as well as other units which are no longer active.

All sources agree on a single Army, 1st Army. Orbat reports that the 1st Army was disbanded in December 2005, as it was considered as a formation without any purpose, after the adoption of the combined command structure, the reformation and change of role of D Army Corps, and the disbandment of C Army Corps. But the official website of the NATO Deployment Corps-Greece [the former C-3-III Corps] reports that "On Tuesday 23 March 2010, the Chief of the Hellenic 1st Army Lt Gen Spyridon Papadakis paid a visit to NDC-GRC HQs."

The Army Corps-level situation is a bit confusing, not least because they have both alphabetical and numerical designations [A, B, C, D, and 1, 2, 3 and 4, and I, II, III and IV]. All sources agree on four Corps, except the unofficial defunct Hellenic Armed Forces website, which reports six. The disambiguation is that there are two Corps that retain Corps designations, [A-1-I and D-4-IV], while two other Corps headquarters have been redesignated B-2-II as Reaction Forces Command and C-3-III as NATO Deployment Corps-Greece, the later being a headquarters element with no assigned forces. These two headquarters have retained their former Corps identity, as the official website of the NATO Deployment Corps-Greece reports "On Wednesday 03 March 2010 at the Hellenic C' Army Corps/NDC-GR HQ, in the "PEDION AREOS" camp, the change of command ceremony took place." Higher Military Command of Interior and Islands [ASDEN] and Athens Military Command [ASDYS / SDA] are two further Corps-level headquarters, hence the Hellenic Armed Forces accounting of six.

Both the official and unofficial Helllenic Army websites report 14 Divisions, though with disagreement as to numbers of types. Both agree on 12 infantry divisions, but the official site reports 6 of these are Mechanized Infantry, while the unoffical site reports only 3. Sources are in general agreement on one Armor Division, and three Mechanized Divisions, along with perhaps two more Infantry Divisions of some sort.

As for Brigades, the official website reports 20 and unofficial Helllenic Army website reports 22. The other sources range from 11 to 16. At least 4 Armored Brigades are well attested, and no more than 5. A single AirMobile Infantry Brigade is well attested. At least 7 Mechanized Brigadess are well attested, though no more than 8, with the notable outlier of wiki, which reports only one separate Mechanized Brigades, reporting the others as the component Brigades of Mechanized Divisions.

The Hellenic Armed Forces source reports five separate commando or special forces Regiments, while the Wiki sources reports 13th Special Operations Command as a separate unit, and depicts 1st Commando/Para Brigade, based at Rentina, Macedonia, 32nd Marines Brigade "Moravas", based at Volos, Thessaly, and 71st Airborne Brigade, based at Nea Santa, Macedonia as the primary constituent elements of 1st Infantry Division. The Orbat.com listing for 2005 reports the special operations units as Brigades, not Regiments. Most sources treat the Combat Support Division as having three subordinate Combat Support Brigades, with the 4th Combat Support Brigade being a separate brigade, while the official Hellenic Army website provides emblems for all four units.

By 2010 the closure of many Hellenic Army training centers and the relocation of major field formations and units reached an important milestone. This included The move of the Second Army Corps from Veria to Didimotichos and into the current area of responsibility of the Fourth Army Corps. Both initiatives were part of a greater (and very ambitious) Hellenic Army plan to relocate units and formations in order to achieve economies of scale (and thus reducing the operating and maintenance budget) as well as to support the Future Force Structure for 2011-2025 which was under preparation.