On Friday 4 October, Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias attended the oath taking ceremony of 2024 E Enlistment Series Recruits, held at the Artillery Training Centre – Recruit Training Centre at Thiva.
The Minister, who was accompanied by Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, was greeted at Major General Dimitrios Psarros Army Camp, by the Artillery Training Centre Commander, Brigadier General Konstantinos Sirlantzis.
The oath taking ceremony was officiated by His Grace, the Beloved of God Bishop of Thespies Mr. Pavlos.
The oath taking ceremony was attended by MPs Eleftherios Ktistakis and Georgios Moulkiotis, Chairman of the Regional Council of Central Greece Loukia Theodorou, Mayor of Thiva Georgios Anastasiou and Director Of HAGS/Artillery Directorate Major General Ioannis Moustakis.
The ceremony was also attended by representatives of the Security Forces, President of the Chamber of Commerce Panagiotis Agniadis, representatives of Retired and Reserve Officers Associations of the region and the recruits’ families.
In his address the Minister of National Defence stated the following:
“It is a great joy to be at the Artillery Training Centre in Thiva today, at the oath taking ceremony of the Enlistment Series Recruits.
Today, the new soldiers took the oath of fidelity and devotion to the Country as set forth in the constitution. An act of individual responsibility toward the defence of Greek citizens, that is, the safeguarding of the liberty of Greece.
I would like to say that national duty is not a simple obligation. It is a duty and an honour.
I do not intend to waste your time with superfluous verbosities. However, I would like to tell you that the historical Greek paradigm, from antiquity to this day, is based on a citizen army.
Service of citizens as soldiers of the country is a timeless value choice of Hellenism. For this reason, we parents stand proud before our children today. I can understand your pride, as can I understand your various concerns.
Ladies and Gentlemen, our military is not a professional one as in other countries It does, of course, have a considerable professional backbone. It does, however, rest upon on the participation of Greek citizens. Ever changing conditions create new requirements.
Therefore, national service, that is, the sacrifice of young people’s time to their Country, must evolve, in order to serve the modern security needs of our Country. Also, it has to be useful to young people.
It is for this reason that we promote important changes, in the national service, as well as in the reserve.
Let’s be honest between us. From a chore, national service must transform into something meaningful.
To a national service which is an opportunity to the country, as well as to the recruit.
The serviceman will be able to gain new abilities, useful to the Armed Forces, as well as to himself.
This is an opportunity to dispose of an excellently trained soldier, who, if he so chooses, that is, voluntarily, can be called up by the Armed Forces to retrain at regular intervals.
So, in the following 24 months, in the framework of the “2030 Agenda”, national service is changing. It will be a complete process of acquiring basic operational knowledge, and also developing special capabilities.
We will initially focus on intense operational training, but soldiers will acquire knowledge, which will prepare them for modern challenges. Through the development of soft skills, necessary for survival in the framework of modern operations, and also certified qualifications.
Thus, we will equip soldiers with knowledge which renders them useful all around and confers upon them a strong advantage for their later life and career.
We are in constant contact with employers’ associations, in order that the skills that the youth acquire in the army are equivalent to the needs of the modern market.
Also, the fighter’s uniform and equipment will change. A modern helmet, protective goggles, knee guards, elbow guards, harnesses, a different canteen. A variety of changes which will culminate in a modern fighter, and ultimately, a modern army.
We estimate that it will take approximately 36 months to change the reserve, and to be capable of starting the innovative plan of recruiting women on a voluntary basis, in order to complement our worthy professional cadres with excellently trained soldiers.
All of this I will present, in detail, in the immediate future.
I close, ladies and gentlemen, by stating, that the existence of the country has rested, and continues to rest upon, the new generation of Greeks
And that national service and the reserve are an existential condition. They are a condition of being able to defend the country if needed. Or, in two words: They are the necessary condition of an independent national existence.
Finally, when I arrived at the Centre, I learned of an interesting tradition. I was told that when the Minister attends the oath taking ceremony he has the prerogative of granting the recruits further days of leave. Since it is the first oath taking ceremony I attend, since my own, many years back, I will make use of this ministerial prerogative, and ask you, Mr Chief of HAGS, that five further days of leave be granted to each recruit.
Thank you very much”.