Army portal hits milestone

Just 18 months after its inception, Army Knowledge Online recently reached a major milestone when its 100,000th user logged on.

AKO (www.us.army.mil/) is the Army's Internet portal that enables soldiers anywhere in the world to access Army information, news, education and training opportunities, as well as knowledge centers and e-mail.

In addition to processing personnel applications and finding information pertinent to military jobs, soldiers can communicate with families and peers through AKO. Sgt. Dewayne Dodson, a mechanic serving in Bosnia with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, became the 100,000th AKO customer earlier this month, according to the Army news service.

AKO is considered an important element in the Army's transformation into an Information Age organization. It is recognized as an important tool for recruiting computer-literate soldiers, and Army officials say its benefits include significant cost savings and greater efficiency.

"We're creating an integrated, personalized intranet capability for the Army enterprise that is better than anything they have at home or in the commercial marketplace," said Miriam Browning, the Army's director of information management. "Not only is AKO the one stop for Army information — including a career lifetime e-mail address, customizable portal and online transaction-processing capabilities — but AKO is also accessible to its customers anywhere in the world."