Serious shortage in Greek military schools

Management Ministry of National Defense in cooperation with Ministry of Education looking for ways to make a career in Armed Forces once again attractive to young people filling out computer questionnaires during their final (Panelinnis) exams.

This year the picture was depressing – a shortage of about 450 vacancies for admission to higher military educational institutions (Evelpidon, Naval Cadet and Icarian Schools) and higher military non-commissioned officer schools. This is almost 50% of all places.

This picture did not emerge suddenly, but as a result of many years of deterioration in all indicators related to military education, including during the memorandum period, when the number of applicants sharply decreased. However, even now the number graduating officers is a headache, especially at the Naval Cadet School, as, combined with the retirement of active officers, it creates serious problems with staffing combat units. The following measures are expected to be taken.

Firstlyin the coming days, the Ministers of National Defense Nikos Dendias and education Kyriakos Pierrakakis will announce the expansion of opportunities for candidates to enter military schools in all scientific fields.

Secondlythe Ministry of National Defense will announce the introduction student salaries military schools to the standards of police schools, that is, about the transition to 2/3 of the first salary of a new officer from the current 1/4. Today, an elite officer receives a symbolic bonus of 150 euros per month. This amount will increase to 600 euros, reaching approximately 2/3 of the salary of a lieutenant who graduated from the Evelpidon School (about 880-900 euros).

The third measure concerns the state of infrastructure military schoolswhich is considered (to put it mildly) mediocre. The Ministry of National Defense plans to renovate military schools to bring them up to modern standards and ensure a high quality of life for students. These are educational institutions with a demanding curriculum, and poor infrastructure is a serious obstacle to the successful study of young men and women. A fourth measure, already being implemented in the context of strengthening domestic scientific research for the defense industry, is the improvement of curricula and the provision ofHigher military educational institutions (HMIs) the ability to award doctoral degrees. This aspect is particularly important, as it essentially allows universities to produce industrial research that will then be used for the benefit of the armed forces.

Beyond these short-term measures, which are expected to be announced in the coming days, there is a broader debate within the Ministry of Defence about how to re-introduce a new generation to a career in the military, whose expectations are very different from those of their parents and grandparents. Identifying current trends among young people, Ministry of Defense awaits the completion of a study that is being conducted and will be presented in the coming months on how to make the military profession more attractive.

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The main problem is low wages. The most serious problem facing the Defense Department is finding the resources to increase the salaries of service members. Given the weapons commitments that will arise in the coming years, the need to maintain the operating budget, and the de facto costs of paying employees who are not performing their missions, the possibility of a significant increase at this stage is limited. Some of the allowances may improve the overall picture, but overall salaries are not considered competitive.

A young lieutenant receives about 900 euros, a captain – about 1400 euros, and a brigadier general – about 2000 euros. However, marriage, children, seniority bonuses and everything related to dangercan increase income even more. However, the salary is clearly low.

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One of the measures that the Defence Ministry leadership is already promoting is not related to wages, but increases the disposable income of the soldiers serving on the islands or at the border. It is about building housing. Mr Dendias announced a programme to build a total of 1,400 houses, which will be carried out in several stages. The first stage concerns 500 houses on 13 islands that are too expensive to pay the soldiers’ salaries. This stage is scheduled to be completed in 2026, and some of the houses (15%) will be allocated to groups of specialists that are not cared for by the locals, such as doctors and teachers, who are also unable to pay the required rent. Each stage will cost around 100 million euros, and a significant part of the necessary funds for the first has already been found.

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