Finnish Army 1st Lt. Tapio Kalema, the Finland national vice president for the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, speaks to the joint group of medical reserve officers taking part in the Junior Medical Reserve Officer Workshop prior to the CIOMR 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting in Brussels, Jan. 28, 2025. At the JMROW and JMWM 2025, junior and senior medical reserve officers participated in lectures, workshops, and fellowship to engage in collaborative discussions about doctrinal topics and innovations in the military medical reserve spectrum, from Jan. 26, 2025, to Jan. 31, 2025. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

Norwegian Army Col. Jürgen Muntenaar, the deputy director for NATO affairs from the Multinational Medical Coordination Center – Europe, delivers a presentation to Junior Medical Reserve Officer Workshop prior to the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting in Brussels, Jan. 28, 2025. Muntenaar gave the presentation to explain how the MMCC-E provides coordination and substantiation of medical services and support to NATO partner nations in the grand scale of joint military operations. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

Norwegian Army Col. Jürgen Muntenaar, the deputy director for NATO affairs from the Multinational Medical Coordination Center – Europe, addresses the group of participants for the Junior Medical Reserve Officer Workshop prior to the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting in Brussels, Jan. 28, 2025. The

JMROW participants comprised of medical reserve officers from the U.S. Armed Forces and its NATO allies; and the conglomeration took part in classroom instructions, group discussions and wargaming exercises to build interoperability and diplomacy capabilities. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

North Dakota Army National Guard Capt. Joshua Seil, the battalion physician assistant for Headquarters and Service Company, 141st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade out of Minot, N.D., gives a presentation as part of a group exercise during the Junior Medical Reserve Officer Workshop prior to the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR,

2025 Mid-Winter Meeting in Brussels, Jan. 28, 2025. Seil participated in JMROW and CIOMR 2025 MWM alongside over 50 reserve military medical officers from various NATO partner nations to conduct teamwork, presentations, engage in wargaming scenarios and contributed to discussions on doctrine and global affairs. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

British Army Reserve Maj. Julian Perdy, a medical officer with the 144th Medical Parachute Squadron of the Royal Army Medical Corps, provides an explanation of his groupwork to the audience during the Junior Medical Reserve Officer Workshop prior to the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting in Brussels, Jan. 28, 2025. JMROW is a core component of the NATO-based CIOMR organization

that provides junior medical reserve officers with a multinational platform to foster professional development, camaraderie, discussions and symposiums on medical and geopolitical topics, table-top exercises, group conversations with senior military medical officers and networking opportunities. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

National Guard Bureau Maj. Gen. Lisa J. Hou, director of the Office of the Joint Surgeon General, gives a speech to junior and senior medical reserve officers during the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Jan. 30, 2025. Top leaders from both the Guard and Reserve Components of the U.S. Armed Forces provided leadership instruction and guidance to junior medical reserve officers from the U.S. Armed Forces and NATO partner nations as part of the CIOMR program block. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

U.S. Army Reserve Maj. Gen. Michael L. Yost, commanding general for Army Reserve Medical Command out of Pinellas Park, Fla., delivers his keynote speech about medical care challenges for the reserve medical military components of the U.S. and its NATO partner nations in large-scale combat operations and large-scale mobilization operations during the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of

Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, Mid-Winter Meeting 2025 at the NATO HQ in Brussels, Jan. 30, 2025. Yost joined other Warrior Medics at the CIOMR MWM 2025 to participate in lectures, workshops, and fellowship to engage in collaborative discussions about doctrinal topics and innovations in the military medical reserve spectrum. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Joy Sanders, the international programs manager for Army Reserve Medical Command out of Pinellas Park, Fla., listens to a British army officer during a luncheon for the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, Mid-Winter Meeting 2025 at the NATO HQ in Brussels, Jan. 30, 2025. Sanders served as the chief liaison to connect AR-MEDCOM Soldiers and other U.S. Armed Forces reserve personnel with their NATO nation counterparts to establish interoperability and collaborative synchronization. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Hernandez)

BRUSSELS – “Warrior Medics” from the Pinellas Park, Florida-based Army Reserve Medical Command joined more than 100 junior and senior medical reserve officers from more than a dozen NATO partner nations for the 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting held by the Confédération Interalliée des Officiers Médicaux de Réserve, also known as the Interallied Confederation of Medical Reserve Officers and by its French acronym CIOMR, at the NATO headquarters here, Jan. 29 through Jan. 31.

Army Reserve Lt. Col. Joy Sanders, the AR-MEDCOM international programs manager, said CIOMR is an international organization NATO’s medical reserve officers to support the NATO multinational alliance.

CIOMR is the medical reserve component of the greater NATO alliance that supports NATO activities, said Sanders.

The AR-MEDCOM Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Michael L. Yost, delivered a keynote address on Jan. 30 to speak of the medical care challenges that junior and senior medical reserve officers may experience in their careers.

“Together, we can ensure that no Soldier is left without the care they need, no matter how challenging the battlefield is,” Yost said.

Sanders, who serves as the chief liaison officer between AR-MEDCOM and CIOMR, said that a prominent focus of the 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting was to inform and discuss how allied nations contribute to the management of medical challenges in large-scale combat operations and large-scale mobilization operations.

“Because we’re in NATO, each country has their own medical capabilities and they bring each one of those capabilities to support the fight as a large-scale combat operation nexus state,” Sanders said.

“Our allies and partners in NATO definitely have medical assets,” she said, “and those capabilities contribute to what the U.S. brings to the fight.”

“Combined with NATO, our expectation is that we work so well together as allies and partners to be able to sustain a large-scale combat operation,” she said.

The CIOMR 2025 Mid-Winter Meeting is preceded by and in concurrence with the Junior Medical Reserve Officer Workshop, synonymously known as the Junior Medical Reserve Officer Seminar, held Jan. 26 through Jan. 31, at both the Holiday Inn Brussels Airport and NATO HQ here.

Finnish Army 1st Lt. Tapio Kalema, the CIOMR national vice president for Finland, said JMROW or JMROS provides rudimentary elements of joint operational activities and procedures.

“Junior medical reserve officers would expect to learn basic officer skills such as briefings, planning and doing exercises and discussing military topics with senior officers,” said Kalema. “The best reason to attend the JMROW or JMROS is to meet the other junior medical officers and being able to work with them.”

British Army Maj. Julian Perdy, a medical officer in the 144th Medical Parachute Squadron of the Royal Army Medical Corps, said his two main takeaways from the CIOMR symposiums are interoperability and resiliency.

“In terms of interoperability, that’s the importance of us being able to collaborate with our partners from different nation states with people that have similar professions but may do things a little bit differently to us, and just looking forward hoping to work in synchronicity with them in future fights,” Perdy said. “In terms of resilience, it’s just the importance of once again just being at any eventuality.”

Air Force Reserve 1st Lt. Andrew François, a clinical nurse with the 349th Medical Squadron (Reserve) out of Travis Air Force Base, California, said in addition to the theme of interoperability, there was a heavy emphasis on diplomacy.

“I think it’s important for us to combine those multinational assets to form this alliance so we can work together, and better understand our situation so we can drive the issue as well as the fight forward,” said François.

“With diplomacy, you have to know which nations you are combining yourself with, so that way you can collaborate and then understand the objectives that are going to be the result of this outcome,” he said.

François said that he strongly encourages all junior and senior medical reserve officers to apply for the CIOMR symposiums for not only their professional development, but in service to their nation and their allies as well.

“You have an opportunity to not only represent yourself for your nation, but the opportunity to expand your horizons so that we can meet those objectives, and those future endeavors that are definitely going to put safety and precedence of our objectives,” François said.

“To our partner nations and the United States, I just want to say, ‘Take advantage of this situation and take advantage of this opportunity.’”

The CIOMR, in tandem with the CIOR Military Competition, or CIOR MILCOMP, will host another symposium this year at the Summer Congress currently slated for July 28 through Aug. 1 in Madrid.