Unit Name: | 98th National Guard Higher Command "Archipelago" |
Native Name: | 98η Ανώτερη Διοίκηση Ταγμάτων Εθνοφυλακής «ΑΡΧΙΠΕΛΑΓΟΥΣ» (98 ΑΔΤΕ) |
Dates: | 1945–present |
Country: | Greece |
Type: | Mechanized infantry |
Size: | Division |
Command Structure: | Supreme Military Command of Interior and Islands |
Garrison: | Lesbos, Aegean Islands |
Motto: | ΑΝΔΡΕΣ ΓΑΡ ΠΟΛΙΟΣ ΠΥΡΓΟΣ Andres Gár Pólios Pýrgos Men are the City's Towers |
The 98th National Guard Higher Command "Archipelago" (Greek, Modern (1453-);: 98 Ανώτερη Διοίκηση Ταγμάτων Εθνοφυλακής «ΑΡΧΙΠΕΛΑΓΟΥΣ», 98 ΑΔΤΕ; 98 Anóteri Dioíkisi Tagmáton Ethnofylakís "Archipelágous", abbrev. 98 ADTE), is a Hellenic Army mechanized infantry division-sized command responsible for the defence of the island of Lesbos, Greece.
At the conclusion of World War II, the 120th National Guard Command (Greek, Modern (1453-);: 120 Διοίκηση Ταγμάτων Εθνοφυλακής|translit=120 Dioíkisi Tagmáton Ethnofylakís) was formed in Lesbos, overseeing the territorial National Guard battalions - predominantly reservist and militia units - based on the island. This formation evolved, on 20 April 1975, into the 98th Military Command (Greek, Modern (1453-);: 98 Στρατιωτική Διοίκηση, 98 ΣΔΙ|translit=98 Stratiotikí Dioíkisi, 98 SDI), and again on 12 March 1978, into the 98th National Guard Higher Command, consisting of two infantry regiments (22nd and 36th), with artillery and armored support elements. Despite its "National Guard" moniker, which honors the formation's previous territorial incarnations, the 98 ADTE evolved through the 1980s and 1990s into a mechanized infantry division. In October 2009 the 98 ADTE was given the honorific title "Archipelago" in commemoration of the World War I-era Archipelago Division.
The emblem of the 98th National Guard Higher Command is a lion facing east, above a graphic depiction of the island of Lesbos.
The division's motto is Men are the 's Towers (Greek, Modern (1453-);: ΑΝΔΡΕΣ ΓΑΡ ΠΟΛΙΟΣ ΠΥΡΓΟΣ, Άνδρες γαρ πόλιος πύργος; Andres Gár Pólios Pýrgos). The phrase is attributed to Greek lyric poet Alcaeus of Mytilene, a native of Lesbos, and is taken from his political songs, or Stasiotika (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Στασιωτικά).[1]