Hellenic Army General Staff

Γενικό Επιτελείο Στρατού Hellenic Army General Staff
Flag of the Hellenic Army General Staff
Active	1904–present
Country	Greece
Allegiance	Hellenic Army
Branch	Active duty
Type	Staff
Part of	Ministry of National Defence
Garrison/HQ	Athens
Website	http://www.army.gr/
Commanders
Chief of Staff	Lt. Gen. Vasileios Tellidis
Inspector-General of the Army	Lt. Gen. Nikolaos Devetzis [1]

The Hellenic Army General Staff (Greek: Γενικό Επιτελείο Στρατού, abbrev. ΓΕΣ) is the general staff of the Hellenic Army, the terrestrial component of the Greek Armed Forces. It was established in 1904. Since 1950, the HAGS is subordinated to the Hellenic National Defence General Staff. Historically, most Chiefs of Staff have come from the Artillery arm.

Although the first regular army units were raised as early as 1821–1822, on the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence, the first rudimentary general staff organization, in the form of the General Staff Officers Corps (Σώμα Γενικών Επιτελών), was created only in 1833, after the establishment of the independent Kingdom of Greece. The first attempt to create a permanent staff service was made in 1877, when the Army General Staff was first instituted. The experiment was short-lived, however, as it and the General Staff Officers Corps were abolished in 1880, and replaced by a simple Staff Service Bureau within the Ministry of Military Affairs.

The modern Army General Staff traces its origin to 1900, when the Staff of the Army General Command was established as a staff for the Army General Commander, Crown Prince Constantine. In 1904, it was reconstituted as the General Staff of the Army General Command (Γενικό Επιτελείο της Γενικής Διοίκησης Στρατού), with greatly expanded authority over the organization, training and equipment of the Army. The General Staff Officers Corps was also reconstituted, while the Ministry's role was reduced. In 1909, following the Goudi coup, these changes were reversed again as the privileged position of the staff officers around Constantine was resented. Instead, the Army Staff Service was established, which retained its name until 1923, when it was finally renamed as the Army General Staff. In the period November 1917 to November 1920, the service was headed by French officers with a Greek deputy.

In 1936, the Army General Staff was reorganized. In 1940–1941, during the Greco-Italian War and the subsequent German invasion of Greece, the Army General Staff served as the nucleus over the General Headquarters under the former Chief of the Army General Staff, Lt. General Alexander Papagos. Following the occupation of Greece by the Axis powers, the Greek armed forces were reconstituted in the Middle East by the Greek government in exile, along with a rudimentary Army General Staff.