Enterprise Email? Sorry, I don't have my own personal S-6 at home!

CH (CPT) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 02 May 2014 18:11:19 -0400

AKO was hard enough, but now Enterprise Email is getting more and more convoluted. I was never trained to understand SSLs and Certificates and whatever other computer wizardry is required to check my email at home. Increasingly we are expecting SMs of all levels to access their official Army email at home but there is no official apparatus to ensure SMs have the ability to do all this technical mumbo-jumbo. I know I am just a dumb LT, and GOD BLESS Michael J. Danberry at militarycac.com. But is this wrong? Are we expecting too much of people? The military has made it SO difficult to do the simplest but most necessary of tasks in the 21st century - check email!

What can the Army do to actually empower this activity rather than make it more and more difficult?

Was this requirement written entirely by generals who have Gov computers, Outlook and their own personal S-6? Were the creators of this mandate truly so out of touch to realize that there are company-size elements out there with only one computer to their name?

What are the solutions? DO they know how hard it is to be a dumb LT who can't figure out how to configure his (or her) own computer to do this at home?

Can you sense my frustration!?

What are your thoughts, please tell me I am not alone in being so angry at this!

Response by SFC Stephen P. made May 2 at 2014 6:42 PM

SFC Stephen P. — Fri, 02 May 2014 18:42:07 -0400

Potential solution: http://www.spi.dod.mil/lipose.htm

An organization could customize the distribution to meet their requirements and issue it on CD or USB.

The real solution is to provide the equipment to the soldier, and train him on its operation.

My command issues laptops to almost all members, and Blackberries to most of our AGR force. It works pretty well for us.

Software Protection Initiative - Lightweight Portable Security

The Threat Investment Areas SPI Successes SPI Brochure Encryption Wizard Lightweight Portable Security RE Training Course RE Workshop Product Datasheets

Response by SSG V. Michelle Woods made May 2 at 2014 8:20 PM

SSG V. Michelle Woods — Fri, 02 May 2014 20:20:54 -0400

You sound like a smart LT to me! Definitely not alone sir!

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made May 2 at 2014 9:04 PM

CPT Zachary Brooks — Fri, 02 May 2014 21:04:47 -0400

Here's hoping you don't have a Mac. It took me about eight hours and a fight with my fiance to get mine set up.

The fight was due to my frustration in setting it up making us miss our dinner plans.

Response by SSG Robert Burns made May 2 at 2014 10:28 PM

SSG Robert Burns — Fri, 02 May 2014 22:28:41 -0400

Someone please explain to me the reason why I cannot write a rule in Outlook to automatically fwd my email to my civilian account? Don't tell me it's for security reasons because I can fwd them individually anytime I want.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 3 at 2014 12:54 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 03 May 2014 00:54:25 -0400

LT,
Don't feel bad I have been a S6 for over a decade now I have several problems with the OWA. Merging all of the CONUS servers was a great idea but merging it with AKO was horrible. This is what happens when the people making the decisions haven't been on the line in 40 years.

Response by SFC John Brooks made May 3 at 2014 2:02 PM

SFC John Brooks — Sat, 03 May 2014 14:02:08 -0400

Granted, I've been an IT specialist for 15 years, but it's the Army trying to keep up with technology and not get left behind. A lot is expected of people, no doubt, but computers are a part of everything now and it wouldn't hurt for some basic computer use courses to start being part of core training. There's only so much the S6 personnel can handle, and the more tickets we have for the very basic things, the harder it is for us to tackle the bigger issues.

If you've got Windows Vista, 7 or 8 on your home PC (and I hope you have at least that, because Microsoft dropped security updates for XP on April 8th) you really only need the CAC reader in most cases as those operating systems support smart cards out of the box. MAC users will run into a harder time, not because of the Enterprise Email itself, but because Apple's support for CAC readers is spotty, even ones purchased directly from Apple.

As for forwarding, per AR 25-2 you may not auto forward your emails to a commercial account. Yes, its for security and trust me, its a good thing. Having just gotten a computer forensics certification, I've seen case studies of hijacked email accounts. It's not something you want to be able to happen to you.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 5 at 2014 1:51 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 05 May 2014 01:51:17 -0400

There have been increasing problems and complaints with the Army IT infrastructure over the last decade. Current administration is working to minimize the number of systems and increase the reliability and availability of the systems. The biggest problem, aside from creating a functional system that does what it is needed to do and is an actual solution, is the data must go from, in some cases, 5 and 6 systems into one. There are plenty of cases where data overlaps and the information between them is not consistent (3 different addresses or phone numbers). If they could simply take it all offline for 2-6 months, they could possibly transfer all of the data, implement the systems and have things working much better. But, we know that can't happen. I dislike a good many of the policies I see for IT in the Army, but it is what it is. You can gripe about it, or use the proper channels to submit change of policy requests. Things can change if they know there is a need and it doesn't endanger the infrastructure.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 5 at 2014 10:52 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 05 May 2014 10:52:30 -0400

It took me and my S-6 NCOIC about 3 hours to properly set up Enterprise Email and that gosh-darn Lotus Form Viewer on my personal laptop. I think we set it up by accident or something. You are not alone in your frustration.

Response by SPC Chicquila Cox made May 28 at 2014 1:45 AM

SPC Chicquila Cox — Wed, 28 May 2014 01:45:06 -0400

I completely agree. I was working at the NEC here at JBLM in the Customer management branch when they had us make the transition, VERY tedious and tiring. Imo, and as you stated, AKO was just fine. If it isn't broke don't fix it... Common sense seems to be lacking in more than one area lately. The only semi positive thing that we were able to do was give users fair warning to back up whatever they didn't want to lose. Which is still kind of redundant as when you retire you have to do the SAME time consuming thing in reverse, as you transition right back over into an AKO Retiree account.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 11 at 2014 4:03 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 16:03:22 -0400

I've used hotmail for about 20 years with no issues. Why can't the Army manage to implement something that is easy to use and as reliable as good, old fashioned hotmail?

And don't tell me its about security of information---these are unclassified systems, after all (and I fear that the security of information line is a job justification for those selling the Army things like Enterprise Email and CAC-protected webpages for completely non-sensitive things like MILPER messages).

Lots of praise on this thread for militarycac.com, and I'll join in on that. But, about a month ago, my CAC stopped working on my home systems (5 computers, doesn't work on any of them) yet still works at the office. I'm at an Embassy, so no Army or other DoD support for this sort of thing; what resource, if any, exists for those of us who can't find a solution and don't have smart (or even not-so-smart) S-6 types around to help?

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Sep 24 at 2014 1:51 AM

SFC Mark Merino — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 01:51:55 -0400

Have you tried using the CTRL + ALT + KICK? Works for me.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 24 at 2014 5:12 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 05:12:45 -0400

To use it from a non-government computer, it sucks. Just like everything else in the military you have to jump through hoops to make things happen.

Response by SCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 16 at 2014 5:52 PM

SCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 17:52:42 -0400

It is not any better on the Navy side with OWA. Most of the time when you try to log in the page does not come up, or you actually get logged in and can see your inbox but it sits there locked, so you know you have emails you need to deal with but cannot do anything with them.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 22 at 2014 6:19 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 22 Nov 2014 18:19:40 -0500

I dont know, it seems pretty easy for me. All you have to do is go to that military cac card website and its in Barney style. Most units issue a cac card reader thats "plug and go" so i dont really see the issue. If your new to the military then good leadership will tell you how(especially if you're not active duty). Adapt and overcome. Be smarter than the equipment you work on.

Response by SGT Jason Weisbrich made Nov 22 at 2014 7:17 PM

SGT Jason Weisbrich — Sat, 22 Nov 2014 19:17:45 -0500

Very simply put, there are many articles that can be found online that break the process down barney style.

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2015 1:38 PM

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 13:38:48 -0400

LT,

Thank you for pointing this out, I have been in for 7 years and have pretty much had the mentality from the beginning that, I could have found a 13 year-old kid who could create a better website than the Army. I joked around for years with AKO that I should put my username and password out there an offer a reward to the first person who could "hack" my account because I sure as heck could never get in there.... I thought it couldn't get worse and then, out came enterprise. Is it a running joke amongst those responsible to see how f'd up of a system they can force service members to use? I have to have Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox on my laptop, Safari on my Ipad and Iphone and a card reader for all three just to be able to get into Army websites when I need to.

I did however find a 32-page slideshow of how to get all the geek-ware set up correctly to get on and it has lasted a couple months, short of three service calls to access DTS. I am sure it will last until the next update when they "correct that"....

Response by CW3 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2015 1:59 PM

CW3 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 13:59:20 -0400

"Your suspense date between drill weekends to CAC sign this is..." But due to PII and Enterprise, your technology issues at home thwart your best efforts. Right?

Response by SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 23 at 2015 11:23 AM

SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 11:23:41 -0400

Does anyone have an ancient hieroglyph or an angel feather? I am trying to reset my GOARMYED password and coming up short.