On Tuesday 18 June 2024, the Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Giannis Kefalogiannis, visited the Supreme Joint War College and was welcomed by the Commander of the College Major General Evangelos Tsourvalis.
The Deputy Minister, after been briefed on the organisation, the mission, the training work, the curriculums, the training goals and the perspective of the College, which is attended by Senior Officers of the Hellenic Armed and Security Forces, as well as Officers of allied and friendly countries, addressed the students.
Mr Kefalogiannis pointed out that the new levels of operations, the hybrid character of many threats and the rapid development of technology have imposed the application of interservice for the effectiveness of the Armed Forces, so that they become more flexible and achieve the maximum power development. At the same time, he stressed the need for reinforcing the cooperation with the existing Centres of Excellence of the Alliance which offer valid knowledge in every operational sector, while he congratulated the joint staff officers for the huge work done in the recent years, at a level of organisation, training and management of the Armed Forces.
In his address, the Deputy Minister of National Defence stated among other things:
“Today I have the special honour to be at the Supreme Joint War College that prepares Senior Officers to staff critical command and staff positions of the Hellenic Armed Forces and allied structures. Thanks to the high level of studies, it is acknowledged internationally, since Senior Officers of friendly and allied countries and of the Security Forces as well, attend the College.
Attendance means a series of demanding examinations, while it qualitatively upgrades the level of studies, since for their attendance a minimum cognitive level is required.
The position of our country in an area of volatility and serious security challenges, as well as the loss of the dividing lines between conventional and hybrid threats, require from us to give the highest priority to defence armouring. The Russian invasion in Ukraine and the prolonged conflict has undermined the stability and has reinforced the security dilemmas in the wider region.
The asymmetric and hybrid threats continuously reinforce their dynamics, with the most recent example, the action of the Houthis and the effort of the EU to safeguard the sea security and assure the freedom of navigation, through the “ASPIDES” Operation. At the same time, the conduct of Influence Operations in the wider region, by non-state players, threatens to overthrow the balances.
We must not ignore the so-called instability factors, like the climate change, the pandemics, the social riots and the disasters of great scale that are very probable to ignite developments that will influence the security environment in our country.
We are at the era of multi-domain war, with the cyberspace and the space being additional levels of operations. So, one understands the capabilities that an opponent possesses to cause unrecoverable disasters in critical defence structures, whereas we must add the rapid development of the defence technology as well, that provides huge strategic advantages to the one that possesses it.
All the above drove us to two intersections. On one hand, the thorough study of the geopolitical environment, in order to locate the current and future threats and get incorporated in the operational planning and on the other hand, in the application of the interservice, which constitutes the basic goal of the Supreme Joint War College.
Interservice has become an imperative need for the effectiveness of the Armed Forces in the planning of the operations, so that the forces become more flexible and achieve the maximum power development. The need of applying interservice is supported, apart from the recent security challenges, by the development of technology as well, resulting in the presentation of modern and clever weapons.
At the same time, the interservice is applied in peacetime as well, since it contributes to the saving and management of human resources, in the achievement of scale economies and the limitation of bureaucracy, since it requires the merge of structures, the common supplies and interoperability.
The Supreme Joint War College was a one-way road but a great innovation as well. The College is the agency that provides the students those skills that will make them capable of planning, commanding and conducting joint operations, multiplying our national defence capabilities. At the same time, it provides specialised knowledge that will reinforce the efficiency of the leaders in decision-making, management of crises, study of the geopolitical environment and the integration of the conclusions in the operational planning.
In this direction, the cooperation with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki that provides PhDs to students, has left a positive mark in the cognitive background of the graduates.
Finally, it is the major agency of study regarding the conclusions of the conflicts which are absorbed by the students and are incorporated in the operational planning and the planning of the structure of our armed forces as well. Another achievement of the College is the cooperation among Officers of various Services, resulting in acquiring common joint culture and understanding.
The attendance of students from the Security Forces opens channels for broader cooperations in facing new threats and the attendance of foreign students promotes the relations with Armed Forces of other countries, which is the best publicity for the College.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the best evaluations that prove the high level of the Supreme Joint War College are two: The outstanding reviews stated for our joint staff officers by their foreign colleagues and the huge work achieved in recent years at a level of organisation, training and management of the armed forces.
It is apparent that the Supreme Joint War College is an important tank of thinking, and has huge margins of developing its capabilities through cooperations with Greek and foreign agencies. In this context, it is necessary to examine the potential of reinforcing the cooperation with the existing Centres of Excellence of the Alliance, which offer valid knowledge in every operational sector, so that they can contribute to the staff efficiency of the students. Interaction with the Allied and National Headquarters is necessary, so that there is awareness regarding the innovations in the conduct of the operations and the new doctrines. Furthermore, the further reinforcement of the relations with joint schools of allied countries is considered beneficial, in order for the exchange of knowledge to be undisturbed.
We are at a critical period. The new levels of operations, the conduct of information operations and the hybrid character of many threats and the rapid development of technology oblige us to proceed to a different approach of defence. Reforms are required, in every sector, with the spearhead of course being the training. For the planning of the reforms and profound changes that are required for the upgrade of the provided training, we will closely cooperate and will use your experience as the groundwork.
I would like to congratulate you for the huge effort you made for the improvement of your professional level and express my most heartfelt congratulations towards the command and the faculty of the College, who surpass themselves regarding the upgrade of the level of studies. I would also like to convey the intense interest of the Minister of National Defence for the College and his intension to support the planned reforms.
Rest assured that today’s visit is the beginning of a constructive cooperation and a channel of communication, which I strongly believe will bring only benefits to the College and the students.
Thank you and I wish you all the best towards your graduation”.