The Ministry of National Defense’s plan to close 137 military camps across Greece, aiming at both cost savings and greater efficiency of units and formations, was described yesterday in Parliament by Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias.

“It doesn’t make sense to have more military camps than the United States, with over 800 military camps. We must quickly move towards closing 137 military camps. This should be completed by 2025. And why only 137? Because you could rightfully criticize me. We don’t have the money to invest in expanding the others and closing another 250,” Mr. Dendias said during his briefing to the MPs in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

According to the newspaper Ta Nea, the 137 military camps include at least one unit within the urban area of Thessaloniki and a warehouse facility in Panorama, while in Attica, the same will happen for a unit with a “chimney” and facilities in Kapandriti and Malakasa.

Also heading for closure are the Telecommunications Technical Training School (SETTIL) in Pyrgos, the Cooks School in Gythio, and structures that are underperforming in various cities, such as in Tripoli, Lamia, and Arta.

Closing of Courts
Nikos Dendias also pointed to the closure of the naval court in Ioannina, as well as several military and air force courts outside of those in Athens, Thessaloniki, Larissa, and Xanthi, as he stated, “They serve no real need. The average number of cases handled by each military judge is five per year, while a political judge handles 25 cases a day.”

For the rest of the country, reports suggest:

• No dramatic changes or closures on the Aegean islands, except for internal restructuring and relocation of military facilities.
• In Central Greece, a unit with 41 warehouses, 30 of which are empty, will be moved to another camp in the same formation.
• In Macedonia, two units of the same formation, located just 200 meters apart in two different camps, will be merged.
• In the border regions, three camps, located only a few kilometers apart and hosting similarly understaffed units, will also be merged.

As the Minister of National Defense explained, the logic behind these mergers is that “Currently, there are units in Evros with less than 30% staffing. There is a unit in the Peloponnese with 130% staffing. This makes no sense. The plan is to abolish more than 30 formations, while several others will be merged to save personnel and strengthen firepower.”