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More time for Army retirees, family members to enable AKO email auto-forwarding

By Army CIO/G-6December 19, 2013

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WASHINGTON (Dec. 19, 2013) -- Today, the Army extended the deadline for retirees and family members to activate the email forwarding function in their Army Knowledge Online account profile.

The extension is for at least 30 days to Jan. 31, 2014. Previously, the deadline was Dec. 31, 2013.

"We've moved the date to ensure retirees have enough time to update their AKO accounts," said Dean Pfoltzer, the senior official of the Army Chief Information Office/G-6.

For users who enable email forwarding, Army Knowledge Online, known as AKO, will automatically forward email to a designated commercial email address, until Dec. 31, 2014. After the Jan. 31 deadline, retiree and family members' AKO email and storage will no longer be accessible.

Retirees and family members will be able to access other AKO services until Mar. 31, 2014, when accounts are closed.

After Mar. 31, 2014, retirees and family members will continue to have access to personnel and benefits information on DOD and Veterans Administration through DOD Self-Service Logon or DS Logon. Starting in April 2014, these websites can only be accessed through DS Logon or a username and password.

"The Army is currently reviewing how we can best maintain communication and dialogue with the retiree community," said Pfoltzer.

This transition is one phase of the Army's move from the current AKO platform to next-generation enterprise services for business users. Migration is expected to be complete by fiscal year 2017. Official Army sites will only be accessible via the government-issued Common Access Card, known as a CAC.

More information can be found on the AKO Transition website at http://www.eis.army.mil/ako.

Related Links:

Army.mil: Inside the Army News

AKO Transition Information