The recent announcement of the bases for the Military Schools this year revealed a serious problem: A total of 460 positions remained vacant, causing serious concern in Ministries of Defense and Education. The implementation of the Minimum Admission Base (MBA) is considered one of the main factors for this phenomenon, while at the same time the decrease in the interest of candidates for financial and other reasons exacerbates the problem.
A typical example is the School of Hope (Weapons), where candidates with scores of 12,230 and above occupied only 77 of the 307 available places, leaving the remaining 230 places vacant – a rate of 75%. Accordingly, the Permanent NCO School (Arms) recorded 148 vacancies, while at Permanent Aviation NCO School (Technological Support) 60 positions remained unfilled. Even in Air Force Academywhich traditionally attracts high-level candidates, 14 vacancies remained in the Flyingwhile at School of Nursing Officers another 8 positions were left unfilled, with what this may mean for the understaffing of the Armed Forces, having on the opposite side of the Aegean a Turkish army, which is constantly increasing the number of its soldiers.
Contrary to the above data, however, Naval Academy fully filled its seats, probably because the Minimum Admission Base (MBA) was lower. This contrast shows the effect that stringency of bases can have on seat coverage. In the three-year period 2021 – 2023, the military schools had recorded a total of 312 vacancies, which shows that the problem of understaffing is not new.
The reasons for the reduced turnout of candidates are many and varied. In addition to EBE, other factors that discourage young people from enrolling in military schools include economic uncertainty, low military pay, high housing costs, and the frequency of transfers that make a military career less attractive.
Another way to fill vacancies is utilization of the candidates by the EPA.L., who managed to achieve the EBE, but found no available positions. For example, in School of Permanent Naval Officers (SMYN), out of the 190 positions available this year, only 15 were given to the candidates from the EPA.L. There are therefore thoughts to increase the number of posts available to these candidates so as to reduce vacancies.
This year’s bases in the military schools for the candidates of the EPA.L. were particularly high, with the MSY (Administrative and Logistics Support) requiring 19,560 points, the MSY (Operational Support) 18,940 points, the MSY (Technology Support) 18,770 points, the MSY (Corps) 18,300 points, the MSY (Weapons) 17,560 molecules and the SMYN 16,840 molecules.
However, an additional reason cited for the decline in interest is the timing of the athletic exams, which are held in the spring, before candidates have a full picture of their grades. This makes it difficult for candidates to plan their choices, resulting in reduced participation.
It should be noted that the downward trend is not only limited to military schools, but also extends to police schools, where a reduction in admission bases was observed. The example of the Greek Police Officers School is typical, where the admission base was reduced by 570 points, reaching 17,500 points. An even greater drop occurred at the Air Force Non-Commissioned Officer School, where the admission base fell by 3,160 points, reaching 13,155 points, and at the Evelpidon Military School (Corps), where the admission base was 12,415 points, down 3,140 points.
Beyond the educational parameters, the Ministry of National Defense is also concerned about the economic factor we mentioned above, which affects the choices of military candidates. Low wages, high housing costs and frequent transfers discourage many young people from choosing military schools. Combined with the increase in the cost of living, these issues are expected to be put on the discussion table in the relevant ministries. In this context, the Ministry of Defense is now looking at ways to more effectively communicate the advantages of a military career in order to attract more and better candidates.
Source: newsbeast
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