FORT BENNING, Ga., (Sept. 14, 2016) -- September is National Preparedness Month and the Emergency Management Office wants to remind the Fort Benning population to sign up for the Fort Benning Emergency Alerts/Warnings through the AtHoc System.
The Fort Benning Alert/Warning System, which sends out notifications through phone, email, text and Twitter, allows military, military dependents, retirees, visiting family, Fort Benning contractors and employees of tenant organizations to receive emergency warnings and notifications as a part of the Mass Warning and Notification System.
Tina Sandell, operations specialist with Fort Benning Emergency Management, said it is very important for individuals to register for an account and fill out the registration completely in order to be notified by various means in an emergency.
According to Sandell, the Fort Benning Alert/Warning System allows users who do not have common access cards to register at https://warnings.army.mil/SelfService/2538145, and set their affiliation when registering. Options include military dependent, military student, visitor, employed with a tenant organization, employed as a contractor, TDY or no affiliation. Users who live on post can also select their housing area.
"We encourage housing patrons to select the housing area in which they reside. Should an incident or emergency occur on post, we have the ability to notify those registered in a specific housing area with instructions through the Alert/Warning System," Sandell said.
In addition to the Alert/Warning System, Fort Benning has 19 "Giant Voice" outdoor warning sirens located throughout the populated areas that send out alerts and notifications of severe weather warnings and other emergency situations.
"We use the GV sirens and the Alert/Warning System notifications for emergencies, primarily weather; however, they can be used in the case of a terrorist attack or other special emergency situations," Sandell said.
Sandell said the Emergency Management Office wants to ensure the Fort Benning population gets accurate information in emergency situations and the Alert/Warning System offers one of the channels for them to receive correct information and instructions.
"In addition to the Emergency Alerts/Warnings, incident and emergency information and instructions will be posted on the Garrison Facebook page," Sandell added.
Sandell further noted that users can register for the Army Disaster Personnel Accountability and Assessment System, a system that allows them to report their status after an emergency, through Ready Army at https://adpaas.army.mil.
"It is extremely important to have an emergency action plan and part of that planning process should be to register for emergency warnings and alerts," Sandell said.
The link to register is https://warnings.army.mil/SelfService/2538145, and instructions for registering for the Fort Benning Alert/Warning System can be found on Fort Benning's official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/FortBenningMCoE. Users should update their information every 60 to 90 days to keep their accounts active and current.
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