NATO Reservists meet in Sofia
By Spirdon Spirdonov
translated from Bulgarian MOD Official Newspaper - BULGARSKA ARMIA
Young reservists from NATO recently participated in the Young Reserve Officers Seminar in the Capital of Bulgaria. On this occasion, the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces, Lieutenant-General Rumen Tzokov, welcomed the President of CIOR (Confederation Interalliée des Officiers de Réserve) Captain (Navy) Carman McNary, and Lieutenant-Colonel Gilbert Couch from NRFC (NATO’s National Reserve Forces Committee.)
Photo: Alexander Chervenkov
Lieutenant-General Rumen Tzokov, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Armed Forces welcomes the President of CIOR, Captain(Navy) Carman McNary. (From right to left LTG Tzokov, Capt(N) McNary, LtCol Couch; back LtCol K.Popov)
Lieutenant-General (R) Stoyan Topalov, Chairman of the Central Council of Reserve Officers and NCM Union of Bulgaria (UROS), Colonel Georgi Tzvetkov, Deputy Chief of "J1" of General Staff , Colonel Veselin Vutchkov, Expert on the reserves matters, Lieutenant-Colonel (R) Konstantin Popov, Vice President CIOR Bulgaria, and Captain (R) Dimitar Popov, Member of the PfP Committee, took part in the meetings.
Lieutenant-General Tzokov informed the guests about the progress of transformation in the Bulgarian Army and the staff process in the realization of the Actualized Plan for Organizational Development and Modernizing of the Armed forces. "At the moment", he said, "the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff are working on a strategy for the Reserves.”
It is expected that following the respective discussions and adoption, a Law for the Reserves of the Republic of Bulgaria will appear. Captain (Navy) McNary pointed out that the policy on the reserves is being revised in a number of NATO nations. Using reservists in current operations of the Alliance is becoming more and more common.
In the next year, Bulgaria will be the host of the 62nd CIOR Summer Congress. On this occasion, the President of CIOR announced that 23 Generals from NRFC, 200 representatives of CIOR, 100 military medical specialists, 200 professional reservists, 60 young reserve officers, 100 officers from Eastern Europe who will study English and French languages, as well as their respective spouses and friends, will come to Bulgaria.
Lieutenant-General Tzokov wished the YRO Seminar good luck and expressed willingness to support the preparation and carrying out of the 2009 CIOR Summer Congress in Sofia.