1. The information below is for users to set up Army Enterprise Email profiles on their PC using Outlook.
Please review all the instructions carefully as all specifics are important to setting up your email as soon
as possible. If you skip any steps, it will cause errors during your Enterprise Email setup.
Firstly let me start by explaining what AKO is. AKO is the abbreviation for Army Knowledge Online, which
is the global intranet of the US Army. The Army has massive work force, one of the biggest in the world
and as such needs a way of keeping them in contact in a secure environment. As you could expect the
US Army needs a higher level of internet security than most organizations. A member of the regular
army or even many civilians that are contracted to the US Army have access to this system and can
securely and confidently exchange information. Whether that information just be a simple email or an
image or video. In fact many Army personnel will use no other system for their day to day internet
needs. The AKO system allows all the useability of a normal internet connection but with the added
bonus of being a well monitored and secured connection.
Signing up
To sign up for an AKO webmail account, as mentioned before you have to a member of the armed
services. The sign up process requires that you enter some personal data, so I recommend that you have
documents like drivers license and passport on hand. The signup process will ask you for your name,
date of birth, address and few other standard pieces of information about yourself. However it could
require you to enter your license or passport number. If you want to get a better understanding of the
signup process the web site offers tutorials.
Log in
The login process has two levels of security. Firstly there is the username and password, which is the
same as you will find on almost any system that requires authentication. However AKO Webmail has
one extra level of authentication. The CAC or Common Access Card, this card is provided to all members
of the US armed forces who are using the Army Knowledge Online email system. It is issued by the
Department of Defence (DOD) to all active duty personnel, civilian employees, National Guard and other
eligible contractors. It is a smart card that is used as an ID for the above personnel but also doubles as
encryption facilitator for systems such as the AKO.
Army Enterprise Email