We were assigned to NATO, to assist a Greek Army Artillery Battalion. This was back before the US Military's lease expired in 1999.
Greece in itself is a beautiful country.
Upon entering the country, when you land at the airport in Athens, we debarked the aircraft at the end of the runway, and the first thing that caught my eye was the machinegun armed guards on the roof of the terminal, and you ride a bus to the terminal. Inside the terminal, after you go through customs, a military liason picks you up, and takes you to a local hotel, where you stay for your first 2 weeks in country. During that first 2 weeks, you go through a crash course in speaking and understanding the language, and their customs, and then what your mission is in relation to NATO. After that initial 2 weeks we're sent to a detachment elsewhere in country. Mine was located just outside of a village called Yannitsa, in northern Greece, about 40 clicks west of Thessloniki, and about a stones throw south of Macedonia.
I enjoyed my time there, and as in any country there are political parties, you learn who's who in the 2 week orientation. At the time, there was the Nationalist Party, which liked the American presence, and did everything to make us feel welcome. The Socialist Party, that tolerated our presence, but were indifferent about us being there, and the Communist Party, which didn't want us there at all.
What I can say is Greece's financial problems started when they let the lease lapse in '99, and the entire US Military pulled out of country.
