Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement Enhances U.S. Army and Greek Partnership

Photo By Maj. Matthew St Clair | Maj. Brad Staddon, 1st Infantry Division (Forward) G4 Chief of Logistics, meets with leaders from the Greek 1st Army Aviation Brigade at Stefanovikeio airfield, Greece. The concrete pad was recently completed to support the incoming U.S. Aviation Task Force helicopters as part of Atlantic Resolve.  

VOLOS, GREECE

10.20.2021

Story by Capt. Matthew St Clair 

1st Infantry Division

VOLOS, GREECE
10.20.2021
Story by Maj. Matthew St. Clair
1st Infantry Division (Forward) Public Affairs Officer

STEFANOVIKEIO, Greece — Greek Army AH-64 Apache and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters soar above the land where Persian soldiers once marched and fought the historic battle of Thermopylae with Spartans and allied Greek forces. Stefanovikeio is the current home of the Greek First Army Aviation Brigade, and rotational site for the Atlantic Resolve U.S. Army aviation task force.

Members of the 1st Infantry Division (Forward) and the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade met with representatives from the Greek Army and the U.S. Area Support Team – Greece in Stefanovikeio. The soldiers from the “Big Red One,” 1st Infantry Division, are working to prepare multiple sites across Greece to receive the incoming U.S. rotational aviation task force as part of the recently renewed Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement between the U.S. and Greece and the ongoing European Defense Initiative mission, Atlantic Resolve.

According to the Hellenic Republic Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, the new five-year pact with the U.S. further shields Greece from threats.

“This agreement takes relations with the United States to a new level. A level they had never encountered before,” Dendias said. “It is extremely positive for our national interests that the U.S. attaches particular importance to our country.”

The U.S. Area Support Team – Greece has been working with the Greek government since 2019 to establish a U.S. Army presence in the country that can train and work with regional NATO (National Atlantic Treaty Organization) allies.

“In 2019, it [MDCA] was signed on a yearly basis and added Stefanovikeio and Alexandroupolis as two locations that the U.S. and Greece would improve together for mutual use,” said Brandon Marsh, Site Lead for the U.S. Area Support Team – Greece. “Now, the agreement included Camp Georgoula (Volos) and Camp Giannouli, which will be the Logistics Support Area in Alexandroupolis. We can potentially put a camp there that could provide support for up to 600 U.S. troops. Then you would have something that’s established where troops can work and live… not needing to wait weeks or months for a contracted LSA instead.”

Although separate from the recently signed MDCA between the U.S. and Greece, Atlantic Resolve directly links the agreement to the larger NATO strategic picture. Since April 2014, U.S. Army Europe and Africa has led the Department of Defense’s Atlantic Resolve land efforts by rotating units based in the U.S. to Europe. The rotational units work to improve interoperability with NATO forces, strengthening the alliance and deterring aggression all while improving their own unit readiness.

There are four types of U.S. Army Atlantic Resolve rotations – armored, aviation, a sustainment task force, and a division headquarters. Starting in November, Greece will be the home to a task force from the rotational aviation brigade. For more information on Atlantic Resolve, see the link. https://www.europeafrica.army.mil/AtlanticResolve

In addition to strengthening partnerships and deterring adversarial aggression, Atlantic Resolve allows U.S. Army units to train with NATO allies in challenging environments.

“Here in Volos and Stefanovikeio, you have the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade and soon the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade… they do helicopter operations with the Greeks,” said Marsh. “This is a valuable training area for the U.S. military because it’s every kind of training environment that you need as a helicopter pilot. You have mountainous regions, desert regions, the sea, forest, populated areas, all of that. So it’s definitely worthwhile.”

Two-time Atlantic Resolve veteran Maj. Brad Staddon, the 1st Infantry Division (Forward) logistics officer, spoke of the improvements made in Greece since his last rotation in 2019.

“It’s a marked improvement here in Greece. There has been a serious effort to improve facilities, increase capacity, and enhance quality of life for U.S. forces,” said Staddon. “With the improvements to the LSAs and additions to the Stefanovikeio airfield, we are able to increase interoperability between the U.S. and Greece, and we are better able to accomplish our mission of assuring NATO allies and partners while deterring regional aggression.”

Working and training together with international partners helps build trust, respect, and even friendship.

“We have a terrific relationship with the Greeks. We’ve been really able to fully integrate with the Greek Army,” Marsh said. “Our relationship is continuously improving. Our partnership with the Greeks isn’t diminishing, it’s building. I think we are going to see more and more invitations from them for training in different locations and more opportunities to make U.S. soldiers’ lives better while they are here. It’s going to keep getting better.”

Over the next month, the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division (Forward) will support NATO exercises in Greece to include the Hellenic Tank Challenge, Golden Fleece and Olympic Cooperation (armor and infantry combined maneuver exercises), and the arrival of the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade at the port of Alexandroupolis from Fort Hood, Texas.

• Date Taken: 10.20.2021
• Date Posted: 10.25.2021 11:35
• Story ID: 407866
• Location: VOLOS, GR