Holloman officials graduate virtual ALS class 20-5 Published Aug. 6, 2020 By Airman 1st Class Quion Lowe 49th Wing Public Affairs HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, NM. -- 64 Airmen graduated from the Holloman Airman Leadership School Aug. 6 and were the very first to complete an all-virtual class here. ALS is a six-week professional development course designed to prepare new staff sergeants and senior airmen for supervisory duties, and is required before fulfilling the role of frontline supervisor. Topics covered include leadership, followership, communication skills and the profession of arms. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing to reduce the spread of the virus, the ALS team had to find a way to modify the class setting for future students. “Before COVID-19 everything was in-residence,” said Master Sgt. Lilliana Harris, Holloman ALS commandant. “When we went to social distancing we initially had to reduce our class sizes and separate the desks more to be safe. Our team was very innovative and adapted extremely well to transition class 20-4 to virtual learning.” While the ALS students did not learn in a traditional classroom setting, the instructors added that there are some advantages to conducting the course online. “When teaching a class of 16 people in-person, one voice could be lost,” said Tech. Sgt. William Clouse, Holloman ALS noncommissioned officer in charge. “An Airman who doesn't speak up as much may go by the wayside. Being virtual, we now split them into groups more often, and it’s easier to monitor them. We can watch the students’ progress and if we see one of them lagging behind a little bit, we just reach out to that Airman virtually to hold them accountable and get them to engage more.” Although the online learning is different from the traditional class in many ways, Clouse is confident that it will still produce the same results. “The students are absolutely still getting the full effect of ALS, just in a different way,” he said. “These NCOs and Senior Airman are hungry for information, they want to be better and do the best for their troops. It’s important we continue to figure out ways to make it happen.”