Chief of Staff Commodore (OF-6)Stavros POLYDOROU
Commodore (OF-6) Stavros E. Polydorou comes from Sitia, Crete. He is a Greek national born in October, 18th 1969. He serves as an officer in the ranks of the Hellenic Navy since 1992 and is currently posted at the Hellenic National Defence College (HNDC).
His professional background includes, 1992-2011 and 2017-2019 service with the Hellenic Fleet as a PWO/ADO/XO and CO of Gun boats (HS MAHITIS) and frigates (HS HYDRA), working for four years (2011-2014, and 2019-2024) with policy, security and legal issues for the Hellenic Navy General Staff as a Department Head of Security, as a Department of International and European Law, and the Director for Security and Intelligence. He has been deployed with the Hellenic Fleet frigates and gunboats all over the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean under national, UN, NATO, and EU tasking.
For three years (August 2014-2017) he was stationed at the NATO HQ, in Brussels as one of the team of the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (ACT) Representatives in Europe specializing in NATO’s policy matters and in particular with Defense Planning, and engagement with Industry.
As a Defense Planner he has participated in various meetings with EU agencies exchanging views on capability issues. Additionally, he has worked closely with industry throughout Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Greece, Germany, France, and Portugal) and NATO Committees (NATO Industry Advisory Group, Conference of National Armaments Directors).
He has participated in NATO-Belgian Industry Day, 2015 and NATO-BENELUX Industry Day, 2016 in Brussels. Furthermore, he has been one of the organizers and speakers of the workshop NATO-GREECE Industry Information Day, held in Athens, Greece, 2017. The scope of that workshop was to inform the Greek participants for the procedures to get involved in the “opportunities”, as we would call in the industrial sector, presented in the NATO organization. Likewise, he promoted ACT’s Industry Engagement Plan from 2014 to 2017 and helped in organizing NATO Industry Forums (2015, 2016, 2017), and Industry Involvement Initiative in Exercises (I3X), with a focus at SMEs.
He has participated in meetings as a subject matter expert in IMO and the UN and since 2023 Greece has appointed him as Chair for the Ad Hoc Working Group on Maritime Mobility (Cross Border Movement Permission) in Europe, with the support of EDA.
From 2024 to 2025 he commanded the Hellenic Navy Tactical Training School, enhancing cooperation with similar facilities within NATO and the EU and transforming it into an innovation hub. From 2025-2026 he serves as the Department Head for Coordination in the HNDC.
Commodore Polydorou HN is a graduate of the Hellenic Naval Academy (1992), the Law School of the University of Athens, the USN Naval War College (Command and Staff Diploma/ Joint Professional Military Education Phase 1, 2002 with distinction), the Hellenic Navy Staff Officers School (2003), the Hellenic Supreme Joint War College (2010), and the Hellenic National Defence College (2015), all with ‘honors’. He has attended the NATO Operational Level CIMIC Course (2005), and the NATO Legal Advisor Course (2009) both at NATO School-Oberammergau, Germany.
Furthermore, he holds a PhD in International Law (University of Athens, 2014), a MSC in Engineering Acoustics (NPS, 2002), a MSC in Applied Physics (NPS, 2002), a MA in International Security and Civil-Military Relations (NPS 2002). For his academic achievements he has been awarded the ‘Outstanding Academic Achievement Award for International Students’ (NPS, Monterey CA, 2002). He is a writer of ‘The Role of International Juridical Process in International Security and Civil-Military Relations’, (NPS, Monterey CA 2002) in English, and the ‘Straits used for International Navigation: Theory and Practice in the Surrounding Greece Sea Area’ (Nomiki Bibliothiki, Athens 2016) in Greek. Additionally, he has participated in the team which invented and developed a compact and inexpensive hydrophone with an internal ultra-low-noise preamp called ‘minican’.
Commodore Stavros Polydorou HN is a member of International Law Association (Hellenic Branch) since 2014.
He has been awarded with all the medals, decorations and commendations stipulated for an officer of his rank and seniority. Additionally,
For his academic achievements, his individual and team work achievements has been commended five times by the Commander in Chief of Hellenic Fleet and the Chief of the Hellenic Navy.
For his humanitarian action he has been commended both in the USA (NPS, 2002) and in Greece (“Bread and Action Philanthropy Union”, 2011).
Besides being a native Greek speaker, he also speaks English fluently (Proficiency Oxford/Michigan/Cambridge), and understands French, German, and Chinese.
He has been awarded with all the medals, decorations and commendations stipulated for an officer of his rank and seniority.
He is married and has two children.
