Page 422 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

388 ANGELOS LAT.Akl$
Army is dose co the philosophy and che principles of che American Forces, bur
che means which the Americ:ans have at their disposal are very different.
Thc U.S.A. and rhe U.S.B. (Unired States of Europe)
The unifìcarion oCEurope, whic:h is already under way, consticures che bope
of rhe Europeans ro secure a berrer and peaceful life. W e all hope that one day
che Europea n Army will become a realicy an d that che armi~ of the member-smres
will be incorporared in ir. A common milirary rhinking, organizacion and docrrine
will be formulared, yet l believe rhat che ries and mucual influences berween Eu·
rope and rhe United Smres will be maintained. l chink due Greece and her Army
are heading in this direcr:ion.

Conclusions
Tbe main elementS which bave shaped che modero Greek milirary rhinking
are, on the one band, the allied military missions, and on che other, che historic
and long·standing Greek cradicion of 3000 year:s, which has prevenred che full as·
similarion of foreign milirary thinking and approaches. Thus we ha ve che formula·
tion of a Greek military system which, nonetheless, has been influenced by the French,
Bcirish and. especially, the Americ:an sysrems.
The French sysrem was accepted untiJ rhe Second World War as a marrer of
choice, whereas reliance on Great Brirain and che Uniced States was irnposed by
nec:essicy. The British and America n influences which the Greek Army a.s been subjen
co have been benefìclal, yec ac che same cime some problems ha ve emerged which
did not exisr before and which ha ve nor as yec been fully solved. The Greek Army,
like the French, is an army of conscripts. The Greek soldier is a citizen in uniform
-and nacional service is compuJsory. Therefore the organizacion of che Army afcer
the Second World War by rwo professional armies, like che Bdcish and che Arneri·
can, has infused a diffe1:em menralicy imo che cadres. The professional soldier w ho
joins che ar:my as a volunreer has a differem menrality - and must be aeaced differ-
encly - from the conscripc. This has been a source of fricrion berween che army
and socìecy, and an efforr has been made, and is stili bei.ng made, co eradicare rhis
problem.
The organizadon and, more generally, .che strucwre of the army in a small
counrry wi.th Limited resources by the army of a great power fosrers che danger of
che smaller army being developed in an unbalanced way and great care should be
mken co avoid ir. The supported army may find icself in possession of perfecdy
modero and h.ighly expensìve means yec acche same rime be lacking io other pucely
basic means. Modero and high cechnology systems may co·exisc with obsolete ones,
in which case cooperation bctween the rwo systems may become diffkult, if not
impossible.