Timeline of the Hellenic Air Force

In 1911 the Greek Government appointed French specialists to form the Hellenic Aviation Service. Six Greek officers were sent to France for training, while the first four "Farman" type aircraft were ordered. The first Greek aviator was Emmanuel Argyropoulos, who flew in a Nieuport IV.G. "Alcuin" aircraft, on February 8, 1912.^{[citation needed]}

The first military flight was made on 13 May of that year by Lieutenant Dimitrios Kamberos. In June, Kamberos, flew with the "Daedalus", a Farman Aviation Works aircraft that had been converted into a seaplane, setting the foundations of Naval Aviation. That September, the Greek Army fielded its first squadron, the Aviators Company (Λόχος Αεροπόρων).^{[citation needed]}

The Hellenic Air Force participated in the Balkan Wars, World War I, the Asia Minor Campaign and World War II.^{[citation needed]} In 1922 it made its first largescale purchase of aircraft, acquiring 25 Gloster Mk VI Nighthawks, 10 of which were built under license in Greece and the rest imported from Britain. Two Armstrong Whitworth Atlas aircraft were purchased in 1928 for the naval aviation branch.^[1]

Initially it consisted of the separate Army Aviation and Naval Aviation,^{[citation needed]} but in 1930 the Aviation Ministry was founded, establishing the Air Force as the third branch of the Hellenic Armed Forces.^[1] In 1931 the Air Force Academy, the "Icarus School of Basic and Advanced Fighter Training" (Sholi Icaron), was founded.^{[citation needed]} That same year the air force acquired French-made aircraft: 30 Bréguet 19 and 30 Potez 30s. The naval branch remained with British suppliers and purchased six Hawker Horsley IIs and six Fairey IIIFs.^[1]

Greece built two Avro training aircraft and acquired seven Avia B-534s from Yugoslavia before 1936 when rearmament began under Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas. Two Gloster Gladiator mk1 aircraft were donated to the air force by a Greek businessman in 1937. The Hellenic Air Force acquired 30 PZL P.24Fs and six PZL P.24Gs that were assembled by Polish technicians in Greece in 1938. An order was placed for 24 Bloch MB.151 aircraft in 1939 but only nine were delivered before the 1940 fall of France.^[1]

During the Second World War, it successfully resisted the Italian invasion in 1940, but practically the entire force was destroyed by the Germans in April 1941. The Air Force was rebuilt in the Middle East as part of the Royal Air Force, flying Spitfires, Hurricanes and Martin Baltimores.

After Greece's liberation in 1944, it returned home and subsequently participated in the Greek Civil War.

In the 1950s, the force was rebuilt and organized according to NATO standards. The Greek Air Force participated in the Korean War with a transport flight unit.

Until the late 1980s the Air Force deployed Nike-Hercules Missiles armed with U.S. nuclear warheads. As a result of Greco-Turkish tensions around the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the U.S. removed its nuclear weapons from Greek and Turkish alert units to storage. Greece saw this as another pro-Turkish move by NATO and withdrew its forces from NATO's military command structure from 1974 to 1980.

In 1988 the first 3rd generation fighters were introduced, marking the beginning of a new era: The first Mirage 2000 EG/BG aircraft were delivered to the 114th Combat Wing and equipped the 331 and 332 squadrons.

In January 1989, the first F-16C/D Block 30 arrived in Nea Anchialos (111th Combat Wing) and were allocated between the 330 and 346 squadrons.