The National Guard intends to establish Operational Headquarters (according to NATO standards) so as to control and coordinate joint operations, something that has so far been carried out only by the General Staff of the National Guard.

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National Guard executives as well as Retired Officers, however, expressed their opposition to this venture for various reasons. 

In order to investigate the matter, our website contacted Brigadier General Georgios Kyriakou and Colonel Andys Loizou. As they explained to us, the operational headquarters are established in peacetime in order to coordinate some operations, which may take place very far from them. 

According to Mr. Kyriakou – the former Commander of the Special Forces Command – an illustrative example of an operational headquarters is the one established by the European Union in 2003 to run operations in Congo, and was located in Paris. 

According to Mr. Loizou, in order for operational headquarters to carry out their missions, they have all the available means (communications, early warning, command and control (C4I) and intelligence) at their disposal. In the case of Greece, the operational headquarters are the so-called Armies, which are called to cover huge areas.

Both retired officers participated in operational headquarters and multinational operations. 

In terms of the National Guard, the operational headquarters will be called to coordinate the Formations of the National Guard General Staff (i.e. Brigades) in case of a small-scale incident. However, according to Mr. Loizou, even small-scale incidents can be very easily generalized. In addition, the criticism against this decision lies in the fact that the National Guard is a small force and there are no forces available other than the Brigades, responsible for the ceasfire line  security. 

The decision gave rise to criticism in terms of the way of thinking and action of the National Guard General Staff and many argue that it entails actions that are not substantial for the upgrade of the National Guard (N.G). 

Both retired officers describe the decision as “unnecessary”, which could even create problems in the event of an incident, as the operational headquarters, which will be in control of the action to be followed, may not know the ground or the situation as much as the local Formation Commanders. They also emphasize that the nature of the operational headquarters is not in line with the size of Cyprus and will bring costs, both financial and personal. 

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According to the Spokesman of the Ministry of Defence, Lieutenant Colonel Mr. Christos Pieris, the planning process of the Operational Headquarters has begun and the NGGS is expected to present the final plan.

Regarding the criticisms raised by this decision, Mr. Pieris told us that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) does not comment on what is being said and that criticism is everyone’s right.