Army Disaster Personnel Accountability and Assessment System

By Susan CathcartMarch 22, 2009

Army Disaster Personnel Accountability and Assessment System

What is it'

The Army Disaster Personnel Accountability and Assessment System (ADPAAS) is the Army's way of accounting for personnel and families after catastrophes. It is a web-based, user-friendly system that enables the Army to collect accurate and timely reports in times of emergency. All Soldiers, civilians, family members and overseas defense contractors must report their status and whereabouts following any natural or man-made disaster, if directed to do so by the Secretary of Defense.

What has the Army done'

DOD mandated that each of the services procure an automated accountability system after the difficulties accounting for personnel during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. To comply, the Army established ADPAAS in 2008 and it is populated with personnel information from both the active- and reserve-components. It is modeled on the Navy's system, which was used with great success to account for Navy personnel during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. ADPAAS was first put to use after Hurricane Ike in September 2008 and successfully accounted for over 24,000 people. It has also been tested through exercises, including an Army headquarters exercise.

What continued efforts does the Army have planned for the future'

Beginning calendar year 2009, ADPAAS is the only way the Army will accept status reports from Soldiers, civilians, families and overseas defense contractors following a disaster. The ADPAAS team is visiting installations this year to answer questions about the system and provide training on how ADPAAS should be used. All Army personnel and families are urged to visit the ADPAAS Web site to become familiar with how the site works. The Army can only ensure accurate and timely accountability of its Soldiers, civilians, families and contractors if everyone knows how to use the system before disaster strikes.

Why is this important to the Army'

ADPAAS enables commanders to identify those in their command that have been affected by a disaster through consolidation of reports submitted by Soldiers, civilians, families and defense contractors via the Internet and phone. In the future, ADPAAS will allow individual personnel affected by a catastrophe to request assistance and provide leader visibility on those requests.

Resources:

<a href="https://adpaas.army.mil/" target="_blank">ADPAAS Web site</a>

Army Information Hotline: 1-800-833-6622 (select option 1)