A Greek pilot has been named Best Warrior Pilot by NATO.

Captain Kosmas Chalaris of the 331 All-Weather Squadron of the 114 Combat Wing of the Hellenic Air Force was acknowledged for his skill while taking part in NATO’s 18-3 Tactical Leadership Program (TLP).

Asked what it takes to be bestowed with such a title, he said determination was key, along with a willingness to make sacrifices.

“First of all, you have to really want it because the training, both at the academy and later on, is very demanding and gruelling,” Captain Chalaris told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA).

“The first stage that is needed is to really, truly want it and the next stage, obviously, is to work as much as possible, to give up things, including personal time with the family and whatever that entails.”

In an interview with the ANA‘s radio station Praktoreio 104.9 FM, he said that aside from training, it was the professionalism exhibited by the Hellenic Air Force, coupled with true passion for the job, that saw him emerge as the best among the top pilots of NATO’s air forces.

“We do not go with the goal of coming first,” Captain Chalaris said.

“We go simply to be ourselves, to do what we do every day and the rest comes by itself.”