Fort Hood - Implementation of Recommendations from the Department of Defense
Desktop Alert: Post Implementation at Fort Hood Report
The Fort Hood shooting was a shooting that took place on November 5, 2009 at Fort Hood, the most populous U.S. military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas. In the course of the shooting, a single gunman killed 13 people and wounded 29 others. It is the worst shooting ever to take place on an American military base.
After the Fort Hood shooting event in November 2009 the DoD conducted a study and reviewed its force protection policies, programs, and procedures. On August 18, 2010 the Secretary of Defense posted "Final Recommendations of the Ft. Hood Follow-on Review".
On September 2010, after a thorough vetting of qualified Department of Defense Mass Notification Providers with proven enterprise-level mass notification experience and capability Fort Hood selected Desktop Alert for its IP-Based Mass Notification Requirements.
Initial Report: Protecting the Force: Lessons From Fort Hood - LINK
Key Take Away Recommendations:
Recommendation 4.4 - Examine and Incorporate State-Of-The-Art Mass Warning Systems into Emergency Response Plans
NOTE: "software alert systems [Desktop Alert] for computer alerts."
Desktop Alert has exceeded this requirement with alerting to additional alerting end-points.
August 18, 2010 the Secretary of Defense Final Recommendations - LINK
April 7, 2011:
Fort Hood Posted Article: Fort Hood Post’s mass notification augmented with computerized alerts
Best Practice Utilized: Desktop Alert Network Alert System (NAS)
Article Start:
Fort Hood has augmented its mass notification and warning system with a computer “Desktop Alert,” which reaches out to all government network users of the Fort Hood domain.
Fort Hood will soon be conducing an installation-wide test utilizing a new Desktop Alert system. Fort Hood computer network users will see pop-ups with the words, “EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE,” and a short test message requiring them to acknowledge by clicking on the “X” in the top right hand corner of the pop-up. Users will also receive an email requiring them to acknowledge the alert by selecting “reply” and “send.”
Like the monthly “Big Voice” tests, Desktop Alerts will become a regularly-scheduled event, as well.
“Desktop Alert will be incorporated into the monthly testing of the installation’s mass notification and warning systems,” Scott Case, information officer for U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hood, said. He said that coupled with existing warning systems, the computer-based warning system adds significantly to the installation’s ability to reach out to its community.
“By procuring Desktop Alert, Fort Hood has not only satisfied the desktop alerting requirement of the Secretary of Defense’s defined Fully Operational Capabilities for mass notification and warnings, but we are now armed with another capability to get the warning out,” Case said. “No one system can ever claim to reach 100 percent of its intended audience. With that in mind, Fort Hood simply looks at Desktop Alert as another tool it can leverage in the mass notification mission.”
A limited test was conducted in March. Case said that initial testing went “pretty seamless.”
Looking ahead, Case said the goal is to incorporate tenant units not currently part of the Fort Hood domain.
“By working closely with the Fort Hood Network Enterprise Center and the tenant units, we are confident that we can overcome this obstacle, or come to an equitable solution,” Case said. “At the end of the day, we all have the same goal to achieve; and that is simply, ‘What is in the best interest of Fort Hood.’”
Article End:
Most recent Desktop Alert Department of Defense News:
December 20th, 2012
U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Deploys Desktop Alert Mass Notification System
December 19th, 2012
December 17th, 2012
December 7th, 2012
November 26th, 2012
U.S. Air Force Headquarters Certifies Desktop Alert 5.x Mass Notification System For Worldwide Usage
October 22nd, 2012
October 9th, 2012
August 7th, 2012
Desktop Alert integrates with Iowa National Guard at Camp Dodge
July 27th, 2012
July 25th, 2012
Desktop Alert Completes Giant Voice Integration at West Point Military Academy
July 6th, 2012
Desktop Alert Notification Platform Deployed at MacDill Air Force Base 6th Medical Group
June 11th, 2012
Desktop Alert Notification Platform Deployed on Department of Defense VMware ESXi Platforms
June 4th, 2012
U.S. Air Force Deploys Desktop Alert Mass Notification Platform at Maxwell Air Force Base
May 8th, 2012
May 8th, 2012
Desktop Alert Releases Enhanced Phone Call Recorded Audio Alerts With Remote Scenario Activation
May 1st, 2012
Desktop Alert Releases Text-To-Speech Screen Reader for PC Notification Alerting
April 30th, 2012
April 20th, 2012
U.S. Army at Fort Lee Selects Desktop Alert Mass Notification Platform
April 19th, 2012
April 17th, 2012
United States Institute of Peace Selects Desktop Alert Mass Notification System
April 14th, 2012
April 12th, 2012
U.S. Army at Fort Huachuca Deploys Desktop Alert Mass Notification Platform
January 18th, 2012
Worldwide U.S. Military organizations such as U.S. Northern Command, The United States Army and Air National Guard nationwide, The United States Air Force Academy, The United States Military Academy at West Point, Multi-National Forces in IRAQ and Afghanistan, The U.S. Air Force, The U.S. Army now utilize the Desktop Alert mass notification platform daily for their organizations emergency communication requirements. Desktop Alert can contact thousands of users with desktop alerts and require receipt confirmation of the message. Those not verified can then be listed on a report and/or sent as a "Target Package" to be automatically contacted by other means such as email, SMS, phone calls and other devices.
Desktop Alert is a best-of-breed IP-Based alert technology which provides seamless integration with enterprise-class federated environments and shares communications and commands using standardized protocols such as XML and HTML.
