Military service questions from UK

Hi all, apologies if this isn’t the correct place to ask this. I am a UK-based and born, British-only citizen with Greek heritage. I have been meaning to get my Greek citizenship (and EU passport :-D) for a long time now and am finally at a point where I can start thinking about getting it. I know that part of this will involve doing national service in the Greek military and so wondered if anyone can give advice/summary on experiences and things to think about (especially anyone who did so if they already had a life established outside of Greece).

About myself. I am in my early thirties with a full-time job, no kids/dependents, I'm an only child, and own a home on a mortgage. My work is very flexible and I could take a sabbatical to carry out the service, then rejoin work when the service ends. There will obviously be the mortgage to consider so I can either rent the place out for the duration of the service or at the very least I have savings that can cover the period of time it looks like I will be away for.

My questions are:

  • What does national service actually entail nowadays? The only stories I have are parent/uncles who did it a very long time ago. Can you choose which branch you go into? Can you decide where you’re deployed? What does it actually involve? My parents think I am signing up for WW3 and I’ve been trying to reassure them otherwise so it would be good to get a sense of what I’d actually be doing
  • How long does service last for? I’ve seen 12 months as the norm, but others have said this can be reduced to 9 months if you volunteer to be stationed near the border/islands close to Turkey – though I’ve seen some say just 3 months as a dual citizen?
  • Is there a set time to join or can you join at any point in the year?
  • How strong does your Greek need to be? I can converse with family and make my way around town on my own but I am not a fluent speaker, is it worth getting a much firmer grip on Greek beforehand?
  • What level of physical fitness is required? I exercise regularly (4 times a week) but are there benchmarks it would be a good idea to reach?
  • Is there a salary?
  • If anyone from another country did their service, how much contact did you/could you have with friends & family back in your original country? Are you allowed to keep possessions like your mobile phone? If you had costs (like a mortgage or rent contract) how did you cover it?
  • Anything else that may be important to consider?

Any advice/pointers is much appreciated 😊