Greek Army “Most Lethal Team” at West Point Competition

The Greek Army won two prestigious awards at the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the West Point Military Academy over the weekend, including “Most Lethal Team” and  “International Trophy.”

Greece, represented by the Evelpidon Military Academy in Athens, came sixth overall among 48 of the world’s best teams who competed at West Point.

#NewsAlert: The Greek military has been awarded the most lethal team, out of 13 intenational counties, participating at the #US military #Sandhurst2022 competition. #Greece pic.twitter.com/Egea59iGAB

— Sotiri Dimpinoudis (@sotiridi) May 1, 2022

🤝🇬🇷Ευέλπιδες
«The Most Lethal Team» των Καλών Ελπίδων του Έθνους@WestPoint_USMA #Sandhurst2022

✅ 14 Χώρες
✅ 48 Ομάδες
✅ 17 Απαιτητικά Αντικείμενα
✅ 6η Θέση στους 48
✅ 1η Θέση μεταξύ 13 Χώρων πλην 🇺🇸

ΣΣΕ ➡️ CITIUS-ALTIUS-FORTIUS

«ΑΡΧΕΣΘΑΙ ΜΑΘΩΝ ΑΡΧΕΙΝ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΣΕΙ» pic.twitter.com/51M11JrRf8

— GEN Konstantinos Floros (@ChiefHNDGS) May 1, 2022

Sandhurst 2022 at West Point Academy

Sandhurst is a military skills competition that was initially brought over by the English to West Point as an Officer’s competition. It’s grown to bring in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) teams and other academies like the Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard, and other international Cadets.

“It’s just going over military training, military skills, and endurance. Anything you can really think of that would be tied to military training, we will be testing and competing against each other this weekend,” Noah Umezaki, a senior from the University of North Georgia said.

Lt. Col. Nate Conkey is a Professor of Military Science at Auburn University. He sees Sandhurst as “a massive opportunity for these Cadets.”

“We’re training with and for one another at a team level, but also training with and for national and international partners,” he said.

“It’s important for the camaraderie, the teamwork and certainly for training whatever might be next,” Conkey adds. “It gets them a chance to improve their leadership skills—no better way to figure that out than competing on the fields of friendly strife. We learn a whole lot of things about ourselves when we’re introduced to the physical stress, the mental stress, and knowing that we can push well beyond any known barriers that we had before.”

Greek Army represented by Evelpidon

The Hellenic Army Academy (Evelpidon) was the personal vision of the first Governor of Greece, Ioannis Kapodistrias, who is also its founder. In June 1828, he announced its establishment and was the one that called the first five students “Evelpides.”

The long-lasting history of the school has been closely connected with the history of the Greek Nation of modern times, as it has been the fertile soil out of which sprang personalities that played a significant role in the history of the country.

The school has made its presence apparent in every single national struggle through active participation since it has always been the cradle for officers who fight and sacrifice themselves for whatever Greece regards as sacred and ideal.

Having acknowledged the Academy’s tremendous contribution to the Nation’s service, the Greek State awarded a war flag to the Academy in 1926 and 1931 decorated with the Medal of Military Valor, Class A; the War Cross, Class A in 1943; the Knight Commander of Order of Merit for Gallant Actions in 1946; and the Grand Cross Star of the Royal Order of the Redeemer in 1978.

The main mission of the Academy is to provide the Hellenic Army with leaders versed in military science through living in a military environment and undergoing multi-faceted military and academic education.