Minister of National Defence N. Dendias Attends 1 st Reserve Refresher Training Centre Opening Ceremony in Avlonas

Minister of National Defence N. Dendias Attends 1 st Reserve Refresher Training Centre Opening Ceremony in Avlonas

June 24, 2026

On Wednesday 24 June 2026, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias, accompanied by the Chief HNDGS, General Dimitrios Choupis, and the Chief HAGS, Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis, attended the opening ceremony of the 1 st Reserve Refresher Training Centre at the Newly Recruited Soldier Training Centre of Avlonas in Camp "Melidi".

After the blessing ceremony, which was officiated by Protopresbyter Lieutenant Colonel Achilleas Stavroulakis, a presentation regarding the Reserve Refresher Training Centre and its capabilities by the Director of HAGS/A4, Brigadier General Grigorios Zacharopoulos, took place, followed by a presentation of audiovisual material of Reservist activities.

Addressing the Reservists participating in the Refresher Training, the Minister of National Defence pointed out:

"First of all, it is a great pleasure to be here today. Secondly, a bet has been placed here, which all of us can understand, I think. That bet is to be able to create what I also stated in front of the camera; a serious Reserve.

Someone could ask "Why do we need it? We have an army and that is enough". The answer is: no, it is not enough. There is a reasoning of numbers. We face a threat. The threat is ten times our size. So, then, we must bring the numbers to a balance. And the Reserve provides us with this capability.

In addition, there is also something different. Throughout the existence of Hellenism, the country, not just the modern Greek state, has been based on an Army of citizens, namely armed civilians. We have professional personnel, very worthy personnel, but the flesh and bone are the civilians. They protect their houses, their mothers, their fathers; that is our tradition. However, in order for that to have meaning, they must be trained. Nothing can be achieved without training. So, we have done two different things.

The first one was to change the Military Service. We all have served. You understand. It had become a Service, which we could call a "drag", but in reality - let's be fair and honest to each other - it was a "mockery" to a great extent. So, we changed the Service itself and it will continue to evolve. To actually train. To teach the modern battlefield and how things are. After all, the conditions have changed so much.

The second thing is what we are doing right here and now, together with the Reserve. That is the capability to have an actual Volunteer Corps, which we hope will reach 150,000 trained Reservists. We have international models. The Swiss, the Finns are exceptional. Reservists have exceptional capabilities. I was in Finland and they were demonstrated to me. Incredible capabilities. This is something that we can also do. We have built facilities here, which are decent, and I must say most decent in some aspects. This is something that will continue in other newly-recruited soldiercamps, in order to create an environment that allows for the seriousness of the matter to become evident.

What I would like to ask of you in the end, I have asked for it before and you will be asked to do it, is to provide honest and clear feedback. In this life not everything is correct. Mistakes are made. Show the mistakes, so that those can be corrected.

The other thing I would like to ask you is to convince others, to the degree that you deem appropriate, that it is worth participating in this effort. The change in the conditions of modern warfare has eradicated the age framework that we knew, after all. I was saying before, that someone who is 55 years old might be an excellent drone operator, maybe even better than someone who is 35 years old. Also, there is special knowledge that someone gains in their life or special skills, which the Army can use".

Following, after being given a tour of the Centre, Mr. Dendias attended the training of Reservists on the operation of drones and visited the simulation hall, where theoretical and practical training is conducted.

In his address following the visit, the Minister of National Defence stated:

"It is a great pleasure and honour to inaugurate today the 1 st Reserve Refresher Training Centre here in Avlonas. As you saw during the presentation, there already is a similar centre in Litochoro, Pieria.

I think that this is an essential step towards the creation of a refresher training model for reservists, which is unified, systematic, and operationally geared towards contemporary needs.

I do not need to tell you what you already know and believe; that reservists are the link between the Armed Forces and Greek society. They embody, in my humble opinion, the absolute, timeless virtue of the Army of civilians, which for more than 2500 years has been our own, Greek approach for the defence of our Country.

In addition, I do not need to tell you what you already know; that a simple look at the numbers leads to the need for Greece to have a strong, modern, and immediately operationally usable reserve, organised within the national defence planning, and capable of immediately assisting the permanent personnel of our Armed Forces.

So, within the framework of the "Agenda 2030" and the study of its implementation, namely the Roadmap for the Transition of the Armed Forces into the New Era, we established, after discussions and an approximate alignment of opinions, the new model for the active reserve. With very clear training, call-up, and operational use rules. That was established by means of law 5265/26 and, of course, as I said before, during the full implementation of the provisions of the "Agenda 2030".

The Refresher Training Centres are the basic infrastructure of this new model. Here, Reservists will train under new conditions. As you know, everything has changed and nothing has remained as we were taught during our training in our time. It is not just the drones and the anti-drone systems. It is an overall approach, which is necessary for the soldier's survival in the modern battlefield. However, it is also the capability to train in providing first aid and in comprehending and training in new specialties and skills.

We already have some actual results. As you know, in March, at the Hellenic Army War College, a Land Operations Tactical Planning course was conducted perhaps for the first time, which lasted for two weeks and in which 50 Reserve Officers participated.

Also, we have modernised the framework of calling up Reservists. All military documents and call-ups are implemented now through the gov.gr digital platform. You may remember that in the first reservist exercise that I observed, I came face to face with the reality of call-ups being implemented through the service of documents by the Hellenic Police. That time was less than two and a half years ago.

Also, to the degree that I believe there is interest, a digital library has been created, through which Reserve Officers can have access to various army regulations as well as to broader training material, by using their personal taxisnet credentials.

All these things have a clear aim. The formation of a serious corps of 150,000 active reservists has been declared, which will focus on meaningful training and actual operational availability in the present.

That means that we have already proceeded to a change of model. Nevertheless, the aim is timeless, common, expressed, and clear: The establishment of Armed Forces, which are capable of protecting the independence and integrity of the Country in the 21 st century.

I would also like to tell you that the Armed Forces will copy the model of these reservist training centres as a template, a "blueprint", in all Newly Recruited Soldier Training Centres. That will be funded by the already existing private donation of the Public Power Corporation and I think we will have completed this total change of the Newly Recruited Soldier Training Centres by the end of 2026.

A modern army that has a modern perception must also have modern infrastructure. We cannot claim that we are creating the Armed Forces of the 21 st century, when the infrastructure remains the same, in addition to the wear and tear of past decades, which I also experienced as a Reserve Officer in 1984.

Thank you very much".

The ceremony was also attended by the President of the Supreme Panhellenic Federation of Reserve Officers Dr. Filippos Kostaras and the President of the Reserve Officers Association of Southeast Attica, Theodoros Brianis.

On behalf of the military leadership it was also attended by the Deputy Chief HAGS, Lieutenant General Andreas Koronakis, the Army Inspector General/EU-OHQ, Lieutenant General Stavros Papastathopoulos, the Commanding General of the Supreme Military Command of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, Lieutenant General Dimitrios Vakentis, the Commanding General of the Supreme Military Command of Thrace, Lieutenant General Panagiotis Kavidopoulos, the Commanding General of the Supreme Military Command of Epirus and Macedonia, Lieutenant General Grigorios Bountliakis, the Commanding General of the Joint Academic Education Command, Lieutenant General Anastasios Polychronos, the Commanding General of the Hellenic Special Warfare Command, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Gakis, and the Commanding General of the Hellenic Army Support Command, Lieutenant General Athanasios Saplaouras.