Dimitris Kopsidas-Army

Life in the army

12/03/18. That was the day I enlisted in the Greek Army to serve my 9 months of mandatory military service. All my relatives were telling me was that I should expect boredom and lots of chores like toilet cleaning and potato peeling. Some months before I enlisted, on the Christmas dinner table of 2017, my father jokingly suggested that I serve my service in the Special Forces. Not having a clue what that included I accepted to give it a try once I joined the Army. Serving my first month in the Army Logistics Training Center in Lamia I had accidentally gotten more than I had bargained for. In my attempt to escape from the endless boredom I got myself serving the rest of my months in the "35" Ranger Battalion in Cyprus. After spending two endless weeks of nothingness and boredom in the Artillery Training Center in Thiva, my class, class 355, and I boarded a C-130 that flew us to Cyprus. My first impressions of the island were the constant unbearable heat and dry landscape. However I was forced to quickly get used to it since once we set foot in the camp our training started immediately.

Earning The Green Beret

My first days in my new home I was, to be brutally honest, scared shitless. Our instructors' first task was to be as intimidating as possible in order to weed out those who weren't willing to fully commit themselves to the rigorous training. Around the 4th day, after a handful of people had quitted, our instructors helped us see the bigger picture and that held us from giving up. We fully accepted the challenge of bringing our minds and bodies to their limits in order to improve ourselves. What that included was running along with gymnastics, cleaning, kilometers upon kilometers of marching in full gear(or "walking" as our officers jokingly called it), training in survival tactics, use of military equipment and lots of daytime or nighttime long and short range shooting practice. That was our routine, except for either Saturday or Sunday when we could take a break and visit the city of Larnaca. There your mind and body were allowed to take a break. Our favorite activities between my friends and I there were, stocking up on supplies, like snacks and medical products, eating, exploring the city and playing videogames. All of that training, along with the help of our excellent instructors and the plentiful food, turned us into soldiers worthy of wearing the Green Beret.

Our Home - The "35" Ranger Battalion

In our heads we thought that once we were awarded the beret life there would be easier for us, while in reality the opposite applied. What replaced our training was guard duty which deprived us of our sleep, leaving us with 3-4 hours every day. And so the most valuable commodity among me and my class became time - time to sleep. And we did sleep wherever and whenever we could throughout the day. But it was still not enough. Our light at the end of the tunnel was that the more you stayed in the camp the "older" you became and the routine would become easier. Not easier because of a change of conditions but because the "younger" soldiers were the ones that were always burdened with the most chores and the most hours of guard duty. In that way I had achieved what I was trying to do, not be overcome by boredom, the usual state of the regular infantryman. That was because I was constantly tired and I didn't have the time to be bored.
However our life was not monotonous. As of today I still haven't met a person that has fired more shots than we used to fire back in Cyprus. What others do once or twice in their lives, had become habit for us since we were on the range more than twice each week. Also, I was fortunate enough to take part in all but one of the Special Forces' Training Exercises. That being:

The Big 50 : A 50 kilometer marching competition between all of the battalion's companies that ends with shooting accuracy evaluation. This has to be the most ubelievable thing that I have accomplished in my life. Our march started at 20:00 and finished around 06:30 in the morning. Each soldier had to carry 20kg of equipment during the exerice, including his 4kg G3 rifle. While bearable on paper, our feet-crushing army boots are what made this my hardest experience in the army, one that I managed to pull through thanks to my friends Dimitris and Konstantinos.

Mountain Training : 3 days of training on a mountain range in Cyprus. Our training included: training in our pespective roles(mine being the machinegunner), outdoors survival(light and noise discipline,use of ropes and learning knots, setting up and living in tents), rope-assisted cliff descent, crossing over a river using rope and camouflage techniques. The biggest challenge of this exercise was the rain and the cold that most of us didn't expect. While I managed not to get soaked, others weren't so successful.

Infantry Heavy Weapons Fire : 2 days of heavy weapons shooting practice. The most relaxing of all exercises. The exercise took place in a bigger range which allowed those with the roles of machinegunner, anti-tank gunner and mortar crew to practice with their perspective weapons. I fired with my machinegun a total of 3 times, 2 times during the day and 1 in the night, at a distance of ~350m from the target. The highlight of the exercise were the tank crews from another camp, practicing along with us, firing with their cannons in the middle of the evening.

Guerilla Warfare : 3 days of simulated combat. One of THE BEST experiences in my life.
Day 1. The exercise began around 15:00. Being behind enemy lines my platoon took shelter in the forest guarding a road that cut right through it. Me being the loader and my classmate Christos being the gunner, we were assigned to be the frontline guarding the road with our MG3. After the sun had set our mission was to attack a fortified enemy emplacement. Because of my role, I was assigned to the support squad along with the anti-tank gunners and the rest of the light and heavy machinegunners. We set up our overwatch on top of a hill ~200m away from the target. At 22:00 sharp the operation commenced as all of the support squad's guns opened fire on the target(shooting blanks). After we ceased fire it was up to the attack, sabotage and scavenging squads to storm the enemy emplacement while we stayed on our hill ready to support them if needed. After the captain signaled on the radio that the operation was a success we rallied back to our temporary encampment in the woods.
Day 2. Surprisingly, after sleeping more hours than we would have slept on a regular day, we packed our equipment back in our backpacks and marched to a different location. After we set up in the second location, the assault squads were sent on patrol leaving behind the rest of us in the support squad with no task to do. Of course we were quick to take advantage of that to sleep some more. After the patrols came back our captain using miniatures and sand models of the area explained to us the plan for that night's mission. Our task was intercepting and disabling an enemy vehicle convoy. This time around the support squad had a bigger role to play than before. Our task this time was to set up the machinegun to disable the first vehicle of the convoy while the anti-tanks were to disable the last one, effectively trapping the rest of the vehicles inbetween them. After that it was easy pickings for the assault, sabotage and scavenging squads to move in, neutralize any opposition and carry back anything useful they could find, like intel, equipment, ammunition, food and water. After everything went smoothly we went back to the camp and had another well deserved good night's sleep.
Day 3. After waking up fully-rested I enjoyed my breakfast uninterrupted and chatted with my friends. Our morning passed uneventfully and around 12:00 the officers called us to gather around to brief us on our final mission. Our mission was to attack the enemy camp at midnight, however one officer was absent during the briefing. As our captain was still explaining the plan he got a call on the radio from the absent officer, who was spying over the enemy camp, reporting that the whole enemy force was mobilizing towards our position. That moment our captain with his signature calm demeanor tells us: "Sorry guys but the enemy is coming to capture us". With adrenaline pumping in our vains we rush back, like playful children playing hide and seek during the summer months, to grab our stuff and run. As we start moving our squad's commanding officer orders me and two of my squadmates to follow him. Our task was to retrieve a buried ammo cache in order to use it in the upcoming raid. Unfortunately that didn't go very smoothly as we stumbled upon an enemy patrol and had to make a run for it. After successfully locating and digging up the cache we managed to make it back to the platoon while also hiding from enemy vehicle patrols looking for us. After everyone reloaded their magazines, we relocated on top of hill and left our backpacks in order to start making way for our final firing position. The support squad set up an overwatch the side of a hill ~150m away from the target. Our orders were the same as the first day's mission, which were to open fire on the target before the assault, sabotage and scavenger squads advance. Unfortunately while were waiting for the signal the enemy spotted and opened fire on the assault squad's position. Our commanding officer made a quick decision and ordered us to lay suppresive fire on the enemy. After 60 seconds the order was given to cease fire. Even though we couldn't see what was happening we could very clearly hear our friends and officers kicking ass and neutralizing the enemy, even finding them hiding under trucks and inside tents. Around 8 minutes later the order was given on the radio to rally back to our previous location. As another mission had ended successfully, we were allowed to sleep. In the next morning I had the most amazing breakfast, enjoying a can of beans with some crackers watching the sun rise on the beautiful landscape from atop of our hill. 30 minutes later we packed our stuff and headed back for our army camp. This was the most amazing experience I have had in my life and I will never forget it.