View source for 15th Infantry Regiment (Greece)

{{Short description|Hellenic Army unit}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = 15th Infantry Regiment (XV Inf Div)
| native_name                   = 15ο Σύνταγμα Πεζικού (XV ΜΠ)
| image                         = 15th Infantry Brigade Emblem Greece.jpg
| image_size                    = 300
| caption                       = Camp flag of the 15th Infantry Brigade
| dates                         = 2013–-present
| country                       = {{flag|Greece}}
| branch                        = {{army|Greece}}
| type                          = [[Infantry]]
| role                          =
| size                          = [[Regiment]]
| command_structure             = [[9th Infantry Brigade (Greece)|9th Infantry Brigade]]
| garrison                      = [[Kastoria]], [[Western Macedonia]]
| patron                        =
| motto                         = ''This Number Is Sufficient''<br>Και ούτος ο αριθμός ικανός<br>''Ke utos o arithmos ikanos''
| battles                       =
| anniversaries                 = 6 November 1940
}}
'''15th Infantry Regiment (XV Inf Div)''' ({{langx|el|15ο Σύνταγμα Πεζικού (15ο ΣΠ)|15o Syntagma Pezikoú, 15o SP}}) is an [[infantry]] [[regiment]] of the [[Hellenic Army]] recently (2013) reduced in size from a brigade. The brigade was formed on 31 March 1998 when the [[15th Infantry Division (Greece)|15th Infantry Division]] was reduced in size as part of a force restructuring in the [[Hellenic Army]].
== History ==
On 31 March 1998, after a [[Hellenic Army]] force restructure, the [[15th Infantry Division (Greece)|15th Infantry Division]] was reduced to a [[brigade]]-level formation and renamed as the '''15th Infantry Brigade''' ({{langx|el|15η Ταξιαρχία Πεζικού, 15η ΤΑΞΠΖ}}). It evolved into a [[motorized infantry]] role in 2011 and, as a result, was renamed the '''15th Motorized Infantry Brigade "PYXOS"''' ({{langx|el|15η Μηχανοποιημένη Ταξιαρχία Πεζικού «ΠΥΞΟΣ» (15η Μ/Π ΤΑΞΠΖ) |translit=15 Mekhanopiiméni Taxiarkhía Pezikoú, 15 M/P TAXPZ}}). The honorific ''Pyxós'' ({{langx|el|Πυξός}}), a [[Byzantine]] settlement on the western peninsula of [[Lake Prespa]] (near the town of Vrontero), was given to the brigade in recognition of its historic defense of the area as the 15th Infantry Division.<ref name="newsnowgr">{{cite web | url = http://www.newsnowgr.com/article/270972/teleti-eortasmou-me-aformi-tin-symplirosi--72-xronon-zois-tis-15is-taxiarxias-pezikou-kastorias.html | script-title=el: Τελετή εορτασμού με αφορμή την συμπλήρωση 72 χρόνων ζωής της 15ης Ταξιαρχίας Πεζικού Καστοριάς |trans-title=Celebration ceremony on the occasion of the completion of 72 years of the 15th Kastoria Infantry Brigade | work=newsnowgr.com | language = Greek | date = 13 November 2012}}</ref>
On 6 November 2012, in anticipation of an upcoming defense review and its expected disbandment as a combat formation, the brigade commemorated its 72 years of service with a ceremony in [[Argos Orestiko]]. The occasion also included a remembrance ceremony for the 112 officers and 5812 enlisted soldiers who lost their lives in its (and, primarily, the 15th Infantry Division's) service.<ref name="newsnowgr"/>
In April 2013 [[KYSEA]] decided the disbandment of the brigade as part of a new force structure for the Hellenic Army.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.defence-point.gr/news/?p=74312 | script-title=el:Μελλοντική Δομή Δυνάμεων: Επιτέλους συμμάζεμα, τα στοιχεία |trans-title=Future Force Structure: Finally tidying up data | work = defencepoint.gr | language = Greek | date = 25 April 2013 | accessdate = 7 December 2013}}</ref> However, within months, it was decided that the brigade would eventually be reduced to the level of a regiment. The brigade was officially reorganized and renamed the '''15th Infantry Regiment "XV Inf. Div."''' ({{langx|el|15ο Σύνταγμα Πεζικού «XV ΜΠ» (15ο ΣΠ «XV ΜΠ») |translit=''15 Sýntagma Pezikoú "XV MP"''}}), on 13 November 2014 and placed under the command of the [[NDC-GR]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.army.gr/files/file/enimerotikoi/15mp090712.pdf | script-title=el:15η Μ/Π ΤΑΞΙΑΡΧΙΑ ΠΕΖΙΚΟΥ, 1ο ΕΠΙΤΕΛΙΚΟ ΓΡΑΦΕΙΟ, ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΤΙΚΟΣ Ο∆ΗΓΟΣ |trans-title=15th Infantry Brigade, 1st Staff Office, Updated Guide | work = www.army.gr | language = Greek | date = May 2012}}</ref>
==Emblem and Motto==
The emblem of the original 15th Infantry Division - a [[labrys]]-wielding [[griffin]] ({{langx|el|Γρύψ}}), symbolizing strength, speed and vigilant guard - was carried-over to the 15th Infantry Brigade in 1998.
The brigade's motto is '''This Number Is Sufficient''' ({{langx|el|Και Ούτος Ο Αριθμός Ικανός |translit=Ké Oútos o Arithmós Ikanós}}). The phrase was attributed to [[Leonidas I|Leonidas]] when he was in charge of guarding the narrow mountain pass at [[Thermopylae]] with just 7,000 Greek men in order to delay the invading Persian army. He was asked why he had come to fight such a huge host with so few men. Leonidas answered, "If numbers are what matters, all Greece cannot match a small part of that army; but if courage is what counts, this number is sufficient." ({{langx|el|«τω πλήθει, ουδέ η πάσα Ελλάς αρκεί· βραχεία γαρ μοίρα του εκείνων πλήθους εστίν· ει δε ταις αρεταίς, '''και ούτος ο αριθμός ικανός'''»}}).<ref>Plutarch, ''Apophthegmata Laconica,'' 225c.8-9.</ref>
==Structure (2016)==
* HQ (ΛΔ/15ου ΣΠ) at [[Kastoria]].
* 574th Motorized Infantry Battalion (574 M/Π ΤΠ) based at [[Kastoria]].
* 585th Motorized Infantry Battalion (585 M/Π ΤΠ EKE) based at [[Argos Orestiko]]
* 15th Support Battalion (15 ΤΥΠ)
* 15th Signal Company (15 ΛΔΒ)
* 15th Engineer Company (15 ΛΜΧ)
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Hellenic Army}}
{{Greece divisions}}
[[Category:1998 establishments in Greece]]
[[Category:Infantry regiments of Greece]]
[[Category:Kastoria]]