National Training Systems Association.

• Position: National Defense Industrial Association affiliate - Brief Article

Companies in the simulation, training, mission planning/rehearsal and support services industry are represented through membership in the National Training Systems Association (NTSA), an affiliate of NDIA since 1992.

NTSA provides the training, simulation, mission planning, related support systems and training services industries a recognized, focused, formal organization to represent and promote their business interests in the marketplace. The association provides a forum to communicate the full capability and broad characteristics of all of the elements of training systems and mission planning to include associated support services.

Founded in 1988, as a non-profit corporation, the association fosters communication between the training industry, planners and acquisition agencies regarding requirements, procurement issues and policies. An important aim of NTSA is to see that all aspects of training, mission planning and rehearsal, training services and training range requirements are highlighted as independent and important "line items" in the overall planning, programming, budgeting and acquisition process.

The International Training and Simulation Association (ITSA) has been established to strengthen NTSA's international access and to better promote training and simulation to the international community. The world-wide headquarters for ITSA is co-located with NTSA, and the first regional organization, ITSA Europe, is located in the UK. Link to ITSA from the NTSA Web site, or go directly to http://www.itsassociation.org.

The Modeling & Simulation Professional Certification Commission (M&SPCC), led by NTSA and composed of members from industry, academia and government has begun the process of certifying Simulation Professionals. Link to M&SPCC from the NTSA Web site, or go directly to http://www.simprofessional.org.

Thomas J. Leising, chair of the NTSA Executive Committee, is the director of business development for the AAI Corporation located in Hunt Valley, Md. Employed with the AAI Corporation for twenty years, Mr. Leising is responsible for AAI Defense Systems business development in the electro-mechanical, and training and simulation business areas. Earlier in his career at AAI, Mr. Leising's responsibilities included business development from AAI Washington Operations, manager of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) National Training Center located at Fort Huachuca, Az., and various training and engineering related activities throughout...