The NATO Senior Reserve Officers Course (SROC) is organized by NATO National Reserve Forces Committee (NRFC) and is designed as a one-week program tailored for senior officers holding the rank of Major to Lieutenant Colonel who are responsible for developing or implementing reserve policy, strategy, and/or doctrine and are assigned to a NATO command.
Within the Reserve Forces module of the course, specific attention is dedicated to CIOR. The primary objective is to enhance participants' comprehension of CIOR's framework, operations, event schedule, avenues for professional growth, and its affiliations with NATO and partner organizations.
“During recent decades many countries have significantly reduced their defense expenditures, abolished conscriptions, and downsized their regular and reserve forces. These actions have also created a divide between civil society and the armed forces, making it challenging to attract new recruits for the reserves or active duty, gain government approval for budget increases, or garner support from the population to expand troop numbers or reinstate conscription. CIOR possesses an extensive network of proficient individuals who are deeply engaged in civilian life while maintaining a profound understanding of military matters. These reservists can be seen as agents working to bring the two parties closer together fostering a deeper understanding between them,” LT Uuemaa said CIOR´s presentation.
Given the ongoing war in Ukraine, CIOR presentation also addressed CIOR’s role in sharing experience and providing advice to NATO and Member Nations on the best utilization of reservists in the defense of NATO, evaluation of the current status of reserve components within Member Nations and recommendations on how to enhance the effectiveness of Reserve Forces.
Main topics of the course are the NATO Command and Operational Structure, Ongoing Operations, Contemporary and Future Security Environment, the NATO Strategic Concept, NATO Enlargement, Partnerships and Reserve Forces.
CIOR’s long-standing history with NRFC has resulted in many joint events and projects with the most notable being joint project on Cyber Defence, Recruiting and Retention and Employer Support. The relationship between two organizations was reinvigorated in 2019 when they updated and re-signed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The NRFC and the CIOR are complementary organisations, the first focusing on the Reserve policies and the second on the Reservists themselves. NRFC represents NATO members countries chiefs of defence forces representatives, CIOR represents the third sector reserve officers’ associations.
CIOR Assistant Secretary General Lieutenant Mari Uuemaa at NATO School Oberammergau