/ALIGNMENT[=[NO]PADDING]
  /NOALIGNMENT  (D)

  Specifies the alignment of binary data items within record
  structures.  Specifying /ALIGNMENT uses OpenVMS Alpha and I64
  data alignment to increase performance and conformity to the
  OpenVMS Alpha and I64 calling standards.

  The /ALIGNMENT qualifier specifies natural alignment; it aligns
  all COMP, COMP-1, COMP-2, INDEX, and POINTER data along natural
  boundaries.  A natural boundary is the smallest boundary at
  which data can be aligned without crossing the next boundary
  for that type.  For example, longword is the natural boundary
  for four byte integers.   Specifying /ALIGNMENT is equivalent
  to using the SYNCHRONIZED clause or using ALIGNMENT compiler
  directives.  (Refer to the COBOL Reference Manual for
  information about the SYNCHRONIZED clause.)

  The /ALIGNMENT=PADDING option indicates Alpha and I64 natural
  alignment and padding of records according to the OpenVMS Alpha
  and I64 calling standard.

  The default, /NOALIGNMENT, specifies OpenVMS VAX compatible data
  alignment.  This qualifier aligns data on byte boundaries for
  compatibility with HP COBOL for OpenVMS VAX and other OpenVMS VAX
  languages.

  The alignment you specify remains in effect throughout a given
  compilation, except as modified by ALIGNMENT compiler directives.
  For more information about the behavior of the /ALIGNMENT
  qualifier and ALIGNMENT compiler directives, refer to the
  Directives section (in this online HELP facility) and the COBOL
  User Manual.