The Confédération Interalliée des Officiers de Réserve (CIOR) or Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers is an association of reserve officers' associations in NATO and beyond. CIOR is sanctioned and formally recognized by NATO through the document MC 0248/2 to assist and advise on reserve affairs, however, it is politically independent. The confederation promotes and organizes advanced training measures, international seminars and working meetings for reserve officers.
Founded in 1948 CIOR now has 34 participating countries and thus represents 1 million reservists. It is the world’s largest military reserve officer organization.
Even before the Second World War there were contacts between the reserve officers' associations of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. These connections were revived in 1946 after the end of the war. On November 20, 1948, they led to the first congress and the formal establishment of the “Conféderation Interalliée des Officiers de Réserve”. Over time other countries were gradually added: Luxembourg (1952), Denmark (1956), Greece (1956), the United States (1958), Italy (1960), Germany (1961), Great Britain (1963), Canada (1964), Norway (1966), Spain (1992) and Estonia (1999).
Mission of CIOR
CIOR’s mission is to forge links between reservists and NATO military authorities; to encourage the establishment and proliferation of ties among Reserve officers from participating countries; and to encourage those nations to offer reservists similar duties, rights, equitable training, and mobilization obligations, while respecting their differences and national traditions.
The CIOR meets at least twice a year – in the summer and winter – and they work through committees that examine issues and provide analysis relating to reserve forces. Typical issues of interest include the contribution of reserve forces to international operations, the re-integration of reservists within their respective communities following deployment abroad, the law of armed conflict, the impact of NATO expansion on the Reserves, and employer support to reservists.
The members of the delegation work before and during the congresses in the CIOR committees Defence Attitudes and Security Issues (DEFSEC), Civil-military co-operation (CIMIC), Strategic Communication (STRATCOM), Military Competitions (MILCOMP), Legal, Outreach, Seminar and the Young Reserve Officers Committee (YROC) with content and technical contributions from their national delegation. The CIOR Language Academy (CLA) promotes language training in the NATO languages English and French, while the winter seminar prepares and conducts security policy seminars on current defence and security policy issues.
In addition to their roles as reserve officers, many individual delegates of CIOR are highly accomplished business and industrial leaders, public servants, and academics. They are therefore in a unique position to contribute to a better understanding of security and defence issues in the population as a whole, as well as bringing civilian expertise and experience to the tasks and challenges facing reserve forces in NATO.
Roles of CIOR
To be the advocate/voice for the reserves to the NATO Alliance, regularly providing strategic advice to NATO’s Chairman of the Military Committee on reserve issues; and to foster the professional development of reserve officers. To offer advice to NATO on reserve issues: CIOR is a voice for reserve issues to the NATO Alliance and provides advice on the best utilization of reserve forces in a variety of operational settings, in addition to studying and promoting harmonization in the roles, duties and rights of reservists in Allied nations. CIOR also directly contributes to NATO's goals by promoting and enhancing cooperation and interoperability amongst reserve forces within the Alliance and its partners.
To enable NATO transformation: Transformation in NATO means coordinating this effort within an Alliance of 28 sovereign nations, navigating the challenges posed by the diversity of military cultures, languages, geo-political considerations, unique national security concerns, and economic factors. CIOR brings its collective expertise to bear in support of these challenges by bringing nations together, developing important cross-cultural dialogues and providing a forum for collaborative approaches to common problems.
The relationship between CIOR and NATO is fully defined in NATO Military Committee Document (MC) 248/2.