The modern security and defence environment, the rapid developments in military technology and the new terms of war's conduct, necessitate the complete change of the Armed Forces' structure and philosophy.

The international security environment today is complicated. The medium-term threat of a world war has been eliminated. However, national, religious, financial, social and environmental tensions keep on causing instability to the international security system and creating asymmetrical threats.

This modern security environment is being characterized by:

• The elimination of the danger coming from north, since the relations of Greece with the Balkan countries have been regularized.
• The persistence of the danger coming from east, despite the improvement of Greek-Turkish relations, given that the main problems with the neighboring country- the Aegean and the Cyprus issue- remain unresolved.
• The safeguarding of the reliability of the doctrine of the unified defence area with Cyprus.
• The appearance of new asymmetrical threats, which are connected to the instability in the countries of our north boarders.
• The participation in international peace- keeping operations

In order to respond to the requirements and conditions of this new era, the Hellenic Armed Forces adapt and remain powerful, flexible and effective. In this way, the AF are able to deal with any threat against our country's new conditions of security.

According to the aforementioned facts, the Ministry of National Defence plans and promotes some very important reforms having to do with the structure, organization and operation of the Hellenic Armed Forces.

The changes that are being promoted concern the improvement of the three basic factors of the defence power, the structure of power and command, the weapon systems and the human resources.

The new structure of the command is being promoted through the organizing modernization of the Ministry of Defence and through the re-assignment of the operational duties to the Chiefs of General Staffs, excluding any kind of interferences that are out of the institutional context, to the function of the Armed Forces.

The changes related to the force structure concern the rearrangement of the country's Armed Forces in the Greek territory according to the new safety standards. More flexible, rapid and powerful units are being formed. The Army is being rallied and the strike forces are massed in Thrace and Aegean Sea in order to confront any kind of episode. The forces of Hipeiros and Macedonia protect the borders and confront new threats such as the international terrorism, the organized crime, the illegal migration and other phenomena that threat the country's security.

The second force factor is the weapon systems. In the last years and after the crisis of Imia, procurement requirements for new weapon systems led to the increase of the supply costs without the expected enhancement of the domestic defence industry. Today the reform and the modernization of the domestic industry is being promoted, the greatest possible participation in the implementation of the armament programs and their complete utilization to the infrastructure, know how, research and development sectors, in combination with the achievement of high real Hellenic Added Value and finally, the ensuring of transparency and conditions of sound competition through the strict observance of the legal framework of the Armed Forces' procurements and the introduction of the institution "Review of Investment, Development and Implementation of an Administration of Armament and Quality System".

Finally the effort for the improvement of the human resources, which is the third main factor of defence potency is based on the following methods:

• The modernization of the "Professional Soldiers" initiative. The most important objective is the increase of their professional performance through the improvement of their training and the achievement of a more stable view of whatever is related with the support of their arming systems relatively with the reservists.
• The introduction of the institution of the Reservists of High Readiness in borderland. Up to 100.000 persons up to 35 years old are going to join the army every year. They will be paid according to their service time. Their salary will be the same with the salary of their classmate permanent colleagues and they will be especially trained in several schools according to their specialty or their rank.
• The improvement of the training at the Supreme Military Training Institutes, National Defence College and Joint War College and the consideration of their diplomas as post-graduate studies