General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Christos Manolas ( el, Χρίστος Μανωλάς; born February 19, 1959) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

retired

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...

officer and the former Chief of the

Hellenic Army General Staff The Hellenic Army General Staff ( el, 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 ...

(24 February 2014 – 25 February 2015).

Career

Born in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

, he entered the

Hellenic Army Academy The Hellenic Army Academy ( el, Στρατιωτική Σχολή Ευελπίδων), commonly known as the Evelpidon, is a military academy. It is the Officer cadet school of the Greek Army and the oldest third-level educational institution in G ...

in 1976 and graduated in 1980 as an Infantry 2nd Lieutenant. He followed a career in the

's special forces, including as a company commander in the Special Forces Training Centre (1981–82) and in the 2nd Paratrooper Squadron (1982–86), followed by a stint as an instructor in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

International

Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP (pronounced "lurp"), is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ...

School in Germany (1986–88). On his return he served as instructor in Greece's Unconventional Warfare Training Centre (1988–91), as commander of the elite Special Paratrooper Unit (ΕΤΑ) (1991–93) and of the 5th Special National Guard Battalion (1993–95). He also graduated from the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; el, Πολεμικό Ναυτικό, Polemikó Naftikó, War Navy, abbreviated ΠΝ) is the naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of var ...

's elite

special warfare Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

Underwater Demolition Unit (MYK). In 1995–96 he was deputy commander in the Hellenic Army's Unorthodox Warfare Training Centre, before going on to command the Greek force (ΕΛΔΥΒ) participating in

SFOR The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, as well as the wider BELUGA (Belgium-Luxemburg-Greece-Austria) group of which the Greek force formed part. On his return from Bosnia he studied in Greece's Supreme War School (1998–99), commanded the 1st Paratrooper Squadron (1999–2000), served as instructor on special operations in the Supreme War School (2000–01), head operations officer in NATO Joint Command Southcentre in

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

(2001–04) interrupted by a brief term as commander of the Greek battalion in

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

(Dec. 2002 until May 2003), and chief of staff of the 1st Raider/Paratrooper Brigade (2004–05). In 2005–08 he served as Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) J9 of NATO's

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander is t ...

, and as head of the National and International Planning Directorate in the

Hellenic National Defence General Staff The Hellenic National Defence General Staff ( el, Γενικό Επιτελείο Εθνικής Άμυνας, abbr. ΓΕΕΘΑ) is the senior staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces. It was established in 1950, when the separate armed services ministr ...

in 2008–09. He subsequently served as commander of the 79th National Guard Higher Command (2009–10), of the Army's NCO Academy (2010–11), and of the 95th National Guard Higher Command (2011–12), as Greece's national military representative in the EU and NATO (2012–13), and as commander of First Army (2013–14). On 19 February 2014, the

Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence The National Security Governmental Council ( el, Κυβερνητικό Συμβούλιο Εθνικής Ασφαλείας) (ex. Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence), usually known by its acronym KYSEA (ΚΥΣΕΑ), is the supreme d ...

(KYSEA) decided his appointment as Chief of the

, succeeding Athanasios Tselios, with the transfer ceremony to take place on 24 February. On 25 February 2015, the KYSEA decided his retirement, promoting him to the rank of full General in retirement and the title of Honorary Chief of the Army General Staff, and his replacement with

Lt. General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Vasileios Tellidis.

Personal life

General Christos Manolas is married and has two daughters. He speaks fluently English, German, Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian, and has a working knowledge of Italian and Spanish.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manolas, Christos 1959 births Hellenic Army generals Chiefs of the Hellenic Army General Staff Living people Military personnel from Athens