VS: Thank you, Colonel! Welcome to Romania, to the CIOR Congress.
How is the activity of military reserves perceived at both NATO and national level?

Lt. Col. Lynn K. Samms: The dialogue here has been very foundational. I found that in geopolitics, the one thing that’s always going on is change.
The way we navigate our way through change is by understanding everybody else’s interests and helping them understand our interests.
Then, in times of crisis, we know how everybody thinks about everything, and we can work together as allies and partners.

VS:What is the place and the role of the reservist organisation in your country, and medical assistance?

Lt. Col. Lynn K. Samms: In our country, and in most democratic countries, we are subject to civilian authority. The people elect the civilian authorities, and then we have a professional military that is subservient to our political leadership. As a result, the population with reservists reflects its will through the elections. The population is the milieu from which we recruit reservists, so the two are tied together with citizenship. Citizens come in and serve in the reserves.

VS: What is the purpose of this Congress?

Gl. Jaish Mahan: The purpose of this conference is to build understanding — understanding of each other’s interests and each other’s priorities in their nations, to understand the working operations of each different country, how they work together, how they think. That mutual understanding helps us to be more effective in times of conflict, stress, or other situations that are not going well.

VS: What is the public’s attitude towards the reserve in the United States?

Lt. Col. Lynn K. Samms: The United States public is very supportive of our reservists.
The public is the milieu from which we derive our military power, either reserve or active, so we have a very good relationship between the reservists and the civilian population.
We live with the civilians, we work every day with the civilians, so we’re part of them, and we are also part of the military.
We kind of serve as that glue that binds both together for a common purpose.

SV: Thank you very much for the interview. I hope you will visit Romania again, and also visit the monasteries of Moldavia, the tourist activities in Romania, the Black Sea and the Danube Delta.

Lt. Col. Lynn K. Samms: It’s been a wonderful visit.
Thank you very much.