Is anybody else getting hassled by needing your CAC to change AKO password?

Question

There are soldiers in my unit that have to drive 3 hours to get to the armory to change their AKO password when the 150 day period is up. They must either do that or stay out of the loop until drill or go through the hassle of changing their password every 3 days. One has to wonder if the fact that many Guard and Reserve soldiers have no easy access to a keyboard with a CAC reader was considered when instituting this policy.

Have any fellow Guardsmen or members of the Reserves had this difficulty?

Answer 1

I've been doing the 3 day thing for 3 weeks.

Answer 2

Well, my husband is active duty, not Reserves, but we've been having the same problem. He's been on permanent staff duty the last five months (staff duty one day, recovery the next day, off the day after that, then staff duty, recovery, off, ad nauseum.) so he doesn't exactly have time to go all the way to town to get on one of their computers.
Neither one of us have AKO accounts right now, which sucks.
I think it's stupid that accounts expire after only a year. You would think they'd be smart enough to make sure that a person's account didn't expire until their ETS date.

Answer 3

I agree, my position is that if the Army wont dish out for a reader then I'm not going to buy one. Might suggest to your unit what mine does. We have computers open immediately after release from drill to use to update our stuff. Since we are already there it isnt a big deal. But most of my unit is in Afganistan so when they get back there could be really long lines.

Answer 4

Can't you just call in? My husband did. He's active though, maybe the reserves are different.

Answer 5

hey, try this email the help desk and tell them you are deployed to iraq and they will be more than happy to help.