Lieutenant Colonel Paul Rosewitz
by Major Michelle Faucher, CIOR PA Committee

Lieutenant Colonel Paul Rosewitz of the U.S. Army Reserve is member of the CIOR Partnership for Peace (PfP) Committee.  He lives in Stuttgart, Germany, but is currently assigned and living in Camp Butmir, Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina.

In 1986, Colonel Rosewitz, as a Field Artillery Officer with 1/89th Field Artillery based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, started out as a traditional drilling Reservist working one weekend a month with annual training consisting of two-weeks each year.  He then joined the Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) Program, a full-time commitment in reserve status, in 1997.  

Colonel Rosewitz has been a life member of U.S. Reserve Officer Association (ROA) since the time of pinning the rank of Captain in 1993. He had heard about CIOR earlier,  but didn’t get too involved since he was interested in other activities in ROA. When he was reassigned to US European Command, in addition to other responsibilities, he was assigned as the Reserve Affairs Liaison to NATO Headquarters and to the German Army Reserve. Soon after he was asked by the Chief of Plans and Policy to attend a CIOR PfP Symposium outside Warsaw to represent EUCOM and provide a briefing. In preparing for the visit he was told there were several PfP and new NATO member nations that wanted to attend but had no funding. He worked with the EUCOM staff and through the Warsaw Initiative Funding (WIF) program and was able to obtain funding for 10 officers from various nations to attend. From there, he was hooked on CIOR. He currently attends and participates as a EUCOM representative and enjoys it.

“The thing I enjoy most about CIOR is the opportunity it provides me to work with officers from other nations, learn how they approach issues and problem solving while being able to offer them an opportunity to learn about the US military through my experience,” says Colonel Rosewitz.

“The US is still a major contributor to NATO and to coalitions throughout the world. As a young Reserve Officer, I did not have an opportunity to work alongside officers of other nationalities. In today’s environment, we do this everyday. I think it’s important to understand that just because we’re allies or coalition partners, it doesn’t mean we will always agree or interpret things in the same way. However, in working together on tough issues like assisting emerging nations through the Partnership for Peace (PfP) process and by socializing with our partners to gain their views, formally and informally, we can better obtain a world view.  As our world becomes smaller, we must understand our neighbors and partners throughout the world,” he added.

Through Colonel Rosewitz’ experience in CIOR, he arrived at his Sarajevo posting in the J5 (Planning Division) of NATO Headquarters already understanding the NATO structure, governing mandates, articles, terminology and procedures.  His headquarters has a U.S. Commander, German Deputy Commander, Spanish Chief of Operations, Italian Chief of NATO Assistance Team (NAT), while the J5 team consists of a British officer as the chief, a Danish officer and himself.  

“Participating in CIOR, and the Partnership for Peace Committee in particular, gave me a broader understanding of the nations I would be working with on the NATO headquarters staff and with the PfP nations in the region in which I currently find myself deployed. I believe working in an international setting can only help me in future assignments to understand the complexities of working in a coalition environment and to better understand the need for diplomacy, cooperation and flexibility to build a workable framework for cooperation,” Col Rosewitz explains.

As NATO moves forward with its PfP program, they are working with the three MAP* countries of Croatia, Albania, and FYROM as they seek full membership in NATO. CIOR has played a key role in assisting that process. Col Rosewitz explained, “The PfP committee has hosted two Young Reserve Officer Workshops -- one in FYROM and one in Albania. I had the opportunity to participate in the Workshop in FYROM as a group leader. Today, in Sarajevo, the Macedonian Armed Forces are serving as part of the European Union’s EUFOR element providing helicopter support and running the camp clinic.  Bosnia-Herzegovina is now a PfP nation and working to develop a reserve service to complement its active Armed Forces. I am pleased to be able to work with the Bosnian-Herzegovina Ministry of Defense on behalf of NATO to assist in that process.”