ETA &
Z' MAK

Greece fields one of NATO's most respected — and least publicised — special-operations communities, the Raiders (Δυνάμεις Καταδρομών), built around the 1st Raider–Paratrooper Brigade "El Alamein" and the 13th Special Operations Command. They carry the SAS creed in Greek: Ο Τολμών Νικά — "Who Dares Wins."

Geography sets the mission. A frontier of hundreds of Aegean islands, a short hop from a rival power, makes amphibious raiding, island defence and deep reconnaissance the daily business rather than the exception. This dossier covers the two units at the sharp end — ETA and Z' MAK — alongside the Navy's OYK frogmen.

ETA (Ειδικό Τμήμα Αλεξιπτωτιστών, the "Special Paratrooper Section") is the Hellenic Army's tier-one unit — modelled directly on the British SAS. Formed in 1959 at the Paratroopers' School and made independent in 1998, today under the 13th Special Operations Command, it specialises in special reconnaissance and direct action behind the lines: sabotage, JTAC strike control, hostage rescue and counter-terror.

It is organised into six teams split by how they infiltrate — two trained in military free-fall (HALO/HAHO), two in combat diving — able to operate across land, sea and air. In 2021 NATO's Special Operations Headquarters evaluated ETA as "combat ready" and "exceptional", its third-highest rating, putting it in the same company as the SAS and the SEALs.

Z' MAK (Ζ' Μοίρα Αμφιβίων Καταδρομών, the "VII Amphibious Raider Squadron") is the commando squadron whose speciality is the scenario Greek planners think about most: retaking a small Aegean island. Amphibious assault, coastal raiding and reconnaissance from the sea are its trade.

It works hand-in-glove with the Navy's OYK (Ομάδα Υποβρυχίων Καταστροφών — Underwater Demolition Command), Greece's combat frogmen and the local equivalent of the SEALs. Between them, the Aegean is covered from beneath the surface to the drop zone.

There is no civilian shortcut. Greece conscripts, and the Raiders draw volunteers from across the army — conscripts and professionals alike — who must first earn the green beret through the Raider (Katadromes) course: a punishing commando school of loaded marches, obstacle and amphibious work, weapons, and relentless tasking that filters hard.

ETA then selects again from the already-qualified, screening for the temperament, free-fall and combat-diving aptitude its missions demand. As with every tier-one unit, the people who finish are a small fraction of those who start.

Neither unit publishes a screening chart; the bar is "fit, capable raider, mentally durable," tested across the course rather than on a single day. Indicative of the Selection tier this reference uses: