Background
Major General Vasileios Tsamis was born in Thessaloniki in 1969. He joined the Hellenic Military Academy (Evelpidon) in 1987 and graduated in 1991 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant.
As a junior officer, he graduated from all the relevant schools of his rank, such as the Infantry School and the Army Staff Officer School, as well as the CIS Military School. He was also trained as Inspector of the CFE Treaty.
After the completion of his training as an Infantry Officer, he was appointed Platoon Leader and Company Commander in Mechanised Infantry Units at Evros region and in Cyprus. He also served at the Hellenic Military Academy of Combat Support Officers and in 1st Infantry Division «SΜΥRΝΙ».
In 2004 he was promoted to Major and he attended the Joint War College. The following year he was assigned in the 79th Brigade at Samos Island, as J3 Officer. In 2007 he was assigned in 501 Mechanised Infantry Battalion, as Deputy Commander. From November 2007 to July 2008 he deployed with his unit to Kosovo (Urocevac), due to the participation of the Hellenic Forces at the NATO KFOR mission.
In 2009 he was assigned in the Army Staff Officer School, as Tactics Instructor, where he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In 2011 he was placed in NATO Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Center (JALLC) in Lisbon, Portugal, where he participated in various NATO projects, either as an analyst or as a Project Manager.
Upon his return to Greece in 2014, he was appointed Commander of the 595th Airmobile Infantry Battalion. In 2016 he was promoted to Colonel and he was appointed Head of the International Organisations Section, at the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS). In addition, he attended the Hellenic National Defence College.
In 2020 he was appointed Deputy Commander of the 71 Airmobile Brigade «PONTOS». In 2021 he was promoted to Brigadier General and consequently he assumed the command of the Brigade, as well as of the EU Battlegroup «HELBROC».
In 2023 he was appointed Director of the International Affairs Directorate (D3), of the Strategy and Policy Branch, at the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS).
In 2024 he was promoted to Major General and he assumed the duties of Chief of Staff of NATO Rapid Deployable GREECE in Thessaloniki.
Major General Vasileios Tsamis holds a Master of Arts at Strategic Studies from the Macedonia University-Thessaloniki and a Master of Arts at Applied and International Security from the Plymouth University-UK. He holds all Greek decorations of his rank and the NATO medal for Peace Support Operations. He speaks English and Italian.
He is married to Eleftheria Igglesi and he has one daughter and one son.
