{"id":29876,"date":"2022-07-14T17:55:14","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T17:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/14\/gmail-fix-for-junior-soldiers-army-launches-google-email-beta\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:07:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:07:52","slug":"gmail-fix-for-junior-soldiers-army-launches-google-email-beta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/it-networks-battlefield-tech\/2022\/07\/14\/gmail-fix-for-junior-soldiers-army-launches-google-email-beta\/","title":{"rendered":"Gmail fix for junior soldiers? Army launches Google email beta"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. on July 15, 2022, with statements from an Army spokesperson and the Army\u2019s chief information officer provided after publication.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Army has quietly started beta testing Google Workspace as an alternate email option and potential solution to the service\u2019s previous information technology woes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Army chief information officer Raj Iyer confirmed the move in an emailed statement to Army Times and C4ISRNET.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Army is committed to providing our Soldiers the communications and collaboration capabilities they need to perform their missions,\u201d Iyer said. \u201cTo that end, the Army has begun early testing of Google Workspace, and will provide details as soon as we are able.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The platform is intended to serve junior troops who may have lost access to official email accounts amid a choppy transition from Defense Enterprise Email and its mail.mil<\/a> addresses to the Army 365 system, which involves Microsoft-based products, according to a source familiar with the matter. The new Army 365 suite includes an Army.mil<\/a> email, but the Army decided that not all soldiers required them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to documents and briefings obtained by Army Times last year, around 250,000 personnel<\/a> \u2014 predominantly junior enlisted soldiers \u2014 were not included in the service\u2019s Army 365 licensing plan, with sources describing the decision as cost-driven. The service publicly committed to maintaining official email access for those members by building an \u201calternate email solution\u201d after Army Times reported it had considered eliminating their email altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The so-called solution didn\u2019t quickly materialize, though, and the Army pressed the Defense Information Security Agency, or DISA, to extend the life of the old email platform<\/a> as an interim \u201cbridging\u201d measure. Soldiers reported increasing problems accessing official email in the intervening months, with many saying that their accounts had been terminated altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\t