LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
To the individual walking or driving near the running trail on the west side of Langley Air Force Base, a diminutive red-brick building with white-topped columns and royal-blue tile inlays on its façade may seem like any other office building. Yet, it houses the 21-member Air Land Sea Applications Center team whose work impacts war fighters of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps every day.
About 35 military and civilian leaders gathered at ALSA for the triennial Joint Actions Steering Committee meeting Aug. 30 and 31 to update JASC members on the status of the tactical war fighting publications ALSA publishes.
The JASC is the governing body for ALSA. Its members are general and flag officers and a senior executive service civilian who represent the doctrine centers and provide consensus among the Services for the coming year, and the resource allocations each Service will provide for ALSA to reach its goals.
The ALSA Director, Col. David B. Hume, said the triennial meeting is an accountability session of sorts because it gives the JASC an opportunity to see "the fruits of our work."
"What we do today hasn't changed from the reason we were created in the first place. That is, to meet the immediate needs of the war fighter, put doctrine on the street quickly, and cut through red tape and bureaucracy," Hume said.
In the 36 years since its inception, ALSA has consistently published multi-Service tactics, techniques and procedures, with only a year's turnaround time. Currently, ALSA is responsible for 35 publications that are reviewed every three years to determine whether they should be rewritten or updated, combined with other publications or discontinued.
The list includes mainstays such as JFIRE, Survival, Cordon and Search, and Tactical Convoy Operations. And, the list is growing. A library of publications can be found on the ALSA website:
www.alsa.mil.
Also, ALSA produces an Air Land Sea Bulletin three times a year that contains articles written by members of the war-fighting community. The most recent edition is located on the ALSA website along with a link for submitting articles for the next issue, which will be published in January. Its theme is Tactical Doctrine in Support of Operations.
Hume encourages comments and input from members of each branch of Service who use ALSA publications to help provide the best products possible.
"We're a small, joint group that's working hard to give you what you need," Hume said.
The JASC was coordinated by ALSA staff member Maj. Michael Saxon who said he was pleased with the outcome of the event. He said, with less than two months to prepare, he believes the JASC went well.
"I think it was very successful. I was just the coordinator. Many people outside of our organization provided much of the execution, along with several ALSA team members. We worked with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the Langley Club, Jason's Deli and others to provide a tour, social function and lunch for the attendees. I received feedback that the briefings, presentations and layout were very good," Saxon said.