Today we celebrate the 21st Anniversary of the JALLC. The day’s activities began with the second lecture in the anniversary series, this time delivered by Professor Aldino Santos de Campos, on the topic: Challenges in Global Ocean Governance and their impact on Defence. Professor Aldino Santos de Campos holds various academic degrees, including in Naval Military Sciences, specialized in hydrography, Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, as well as a PhD in International Relations. 
In his lecture, he addressed the JALLC staff on the challenges in Global Ocean Governance and their impact on defence, highlighting the important, but oftentimes, complex process, of identifying the legal continental shelf and its significance in terms of costal nation’s economic and security policies. Explaining the important but challenging work the UN Continental Shelf Limits Commission does, the JALLC staff learned about the history of the Law of the Seas and about how the science behind the work done is critical to make the right, and fair, decisions that ultimately impact how a Nation can (or can’t) exploit the territory off their coast.
The lecture was followed by the formal anniversary celebrations at the Monsanto Messe, attended by Deputy Chief of Staff Joint Force Development, HQ Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Rear Admiral Plácido Torresi, during which three JALLC staff members were awarded commendations from the JALLC’s Commander for their outstanding service over the years.
During the formal ceremony the JALLC's commander congratulated the JALLC's staff on the anniversary of the centre, noting the important work the JALLC has done in the past and still has to do for the Alliance.
Rear Admiral Torresi took the floor and also congratulated the JALLC and its staff on this special occasion. He explained that, although the JALLC is a relatively small HQ in comparison to the other Allied Command Transformation (ACT) entities, its work in Lessons Learned is critical to the wider ACT efforts in developing NATOs capabilities and abilities for the future.
He noted, "There is not a single work strand in ACT that does not rely on Lessons Learned efforts for its success. It is imperative we learn lessons from the past to ensure we do not make mistakes in the future." He went on to explain that SACT believes that ACT stands not only for Allied Command Transformation, but also for what the Strategic Command embodies: Anticipation, Capabilities, and Talent, noting that the JALLC represented this concept of ACT immaculately.
The ceremony was attended by many distinguished guests including former JALLC Commanders and the Portuguese Air Command which has a special relationship with the JALLC as the host to the centre and its staff at the Monsanto Air Force Base
Finally, the celebrations were concluded by cutting the traditional Birthday Cake. This year, two JALLC Staff members who have worked at the JALLC since its inception, were invited to cut the cake.
A little bit of history...
The precursor body to the JALLC was the Permanent Maritime Analysis Team (or PAT) based at Northwood, UK, which conducted operational analysis of NATO maritime exercises using a staff predominantly composed of naval officers. One of the PAT Joint Analysis Reports recognized the lack of a standing NATO joint analysis capability, which led to the formation of a NATO Working Group tasked to develop the concept for a JALLC.
The JALLC was activated in September 2002 and was originally conceived to primarily analyse exercises. However, as the Alliance’s focus has shifted, so too has the focus of the JALLC. Today, the centre is involved in a wide range of activities, which include analysis, Lessons Learned management and training, managing the NATO Lessons Learned Portal and its content, and providing analysis and Lessons Learned support to exercises and operations. All of these activities are centred around the JALLC’s Bi-Strategic programme of work which ensures the JALLC serves NATO’s two Strategic commands according to the priorities set by the Nations.
The JALLC today
You can find out more about the JALLC’s history and its current activities on this website and in our informative brochure.