| Country: | Greece |
| Details of Formation: | The group in Greece was set up in the 1950s by the CIA with the involvement of the Greek military. |
| Details of Termination: | Gladio in Greece was dismantled in 1988. |
| Purpose: | The group was intended as a fighting force prepared to counter a possible Warsaw Pact invasion. In this case, it was meant to conduct guerilla warfare and sabotage activities. In Greece the PGM focused particularly on internal targets, with the goal of countering a potential left-wing subversion. |
| Organisation: | The PGM was coordinated by NATO and run by military secret services in close cooperation with the CIA and British Secret Intelligence Service. |
| Weapons and Training: | The group trained with the US Green Berets, CIA and the British Special Air Services (SAS) and was equipped from underground arms caches. The CIA also provided weapons. |
| Size: | -- |
| Reason for Membership: | -- |
| Treatment of Civilians: | -- |
| Other Information: | The group was set up a as a secret Cold War guerrilla army in 1955. The network of groups may have some semi-official status within the intelligence community. But this group was hidden even from some domestic governments and prime ministers. The groups were ultimately answerable to NATO-CIA rather than to domestic governments in event of attack by Warsaw Pact. In Greece, the PGM was involved in the Colonels’ coup in 1967. Its codename was “Sheepskin”. |
| References: | -- |