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A visit to Stefanovikio

Ellinki Aeroporia Stratou

Greek Army Aviation: "Wait for the right time"

Driving onto Stefanovikion we expected a typical Friday afternoon visit; a few missions returning from earlier take-off's, maintenance tucking away the helicopters for the weekend and staff eager to leave for the spring weekend. When arriving at the Hellenic Army Aviation HQ the situation could not be different. The halls were decked with kit bags, phones ringing and offices and briefing rooms fully occupied. After a short wait in one of the offices we were met by LtCol. Maniatis who explained that the whole Aviation Brigade was activated to start the livex "Sarissa 2009" (*) at 06:00 next Saturday morning.

A week long exercise involving elements of the II Army Corps and other units from the Hellenic Army aimed at demonstrating the proficiency of deploying “rapid reaction forces”-style. The exercise was to take place in the northern part of Greece, near Langadas, which is a mere 50 kms to the east of the city of Thessaloniki. Moving troups around involved Chinooks and Hueys, under close protection of a flight of eight Apache attack helicopters.

The 1^st Army Aviation Brigade is a fully self-supported 'division' 'within the II Army Corps, which in turn is headquartered in Veroia, Macedonia, its units forming the Greek rapid reaction forces, including paratroopers, marines and airmobile infantry.

Like many army aviation units worldwide, the origins date back to artillery spotting and reconnaissance. The birthplace of army aviation is Megara Air Field, on the seaside west of Athens. From the 1950s the Air Observation Unit evolved into a full size brigade, a period spanning almost fifty years from conception into the formation of 1ο ΤΑΞΑΣ (TAXAS) or 1 Army Aviation Brigade in March 1998 at Stefanovikio.

Spotter planes like the Piper L-21 were fielded in the sixties, together with the first helicopter in Greek Army service, the Bell 47G (OH-13). The late sixtees saw arrival of the famous 'Huey' UH-1 utility helicopter, which through upgrades and careful maintainance is still very much in use today.

Building a more modern Greek Army Aviation started in the eightties when nine CH-47C Chinooks were delivered and twenty AH-64A+ Apache attack helicopters were taken on charge from the mid-ninetees. The Chinooks were later upgraded to CH-47D standards and seven more CH-47Ds were added to the fleet. This decade will see the introduction of 12 AH-64D Apaches, which were delivered from 2007-2009, but due to a dispute between Boeing and Greece none were formally accepted until May 2009 when a settlement was agreed. The new Longbow- 'D' models will now be handed over to their new unit at Megara in the next few months.

Since the "Sarissa" exercise area in the north meant a transit flight on Saturday, UH-1Hs from Megara were staging at Stefanovikio and coming in just as our short briefing and welcome by the Brig. General was coming to an end. Unfortunately we were not in a position to accept the invitation to witness the departure of the (50+) helicopters the next day.

Since we did want to take the opportunity to make some pictures of the aircraft of the different units, an experienced captain of the 1 TEEP (AH-64A+) took us to the platforms to show us around. Since the flying school was closed for the weekend, their aircraft, including the only NH-300Cs and AB-206Bs in Greek Army Aviation were inside. However together with the Megara flight a total of fifty UH-1H / AB-205A were outside, ready for the mass take-off in the morning for the flight to Langadas near the border with Bulgaria and FYROM.

Next on the platform was an impressive line-up of eight armed AH-64A+ Apaches. Armed with live Hellfire, Hydra rocket pods and filled chain guns, we carefully moved around these lethal aircraft. The Askos-Profitis training range, near Langadas, was in for a good pounding next week.

Like most competitive jobs, you don't just become an Apache pilot. Only the 'best in class' may choose to become one and even then the aspiring Apache driver starts out as co-pilot/weapons operator. After a minimum of two years in the same team, a move towards an own 'team' can be made. Exercising and flying together for such a long time means the Apache pilots become eachothers eyes and ears and start to feel what the other is doing which pays out in a hostile situation when every second counts.

Not wanting to outstay our welcome, we quickly made our pictures of other aircraft and units and while maintenance was still pumping out UH-1Hs at the end of the afternoon we were pleased that we had taken the opportunity to visit Stefanovikio. Greek Army Aviation has been a long time in the making and due to several reasons some aircraft are past their retirement date. Like many European nations, Greece is also awaiting the NH-90 to arrive and provide some relief for their aging Hueys. Until then we come to realise one thing we have learned from our hosts now and during our visit to Megara in November 2008: it does not matter which aircraft you fly, it is the spirit and flexibility that counts when you go out to perform the mission. It's almost as if their motto "Wait for the right time" is sometimes misused by their political masters since the requirements for modern armies in deployed and out-of-area missions have gone up while manpower has gone down and equipment stressed under use.

We thank the Hellenic Army Headquarters for allowing us to visit the Army Aviation units and thank LtCol. Maniatis and their staff for their hospitality.

(*) "Sarissa" is the name of the spear of the Army of Alexander the Great