With hurricane season coming up, Sailors, both active and reserve, Navy civilian employees, and contractors working aboard Naval District Washington are encouraged to register in the Wide Area Alert Network (WAAN).

The Wide Area Alert Network is one of the principal tools the region commander and installation commanding officers utilize to alert the workforce to destructive weather hazards, emergencies, severe traffic conditions, force protection condition (FPCON) changes, etc., both during and after working hours.

"Wide Area Alert Network messages are normally sent to individuals by voice, text, e-mail, and as a pop-up on your Navy and Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) computer by "AtHoc," the DoD WAAN program," said NDW Operations Planner Thomas E. Davy. "The time delay between the message being sent and received can be a matter of seconds to several hours depending on other demands on both the NMCI and individual systems."

The automated telephone notification system, one of four sub-systems of the WAAN, enables registered users to receive telephone, email, and text alerts on devices they designate.

Once registered, users can update their profile at any time by clicking the purple globe on their computer tool bar, click on "MY INFO," and update their device, command, email, etc.

"Your contact information is best updated directly on the AtHoc Self Service app already preinstalled in the NMCI computers," said Davy.

Personnel are not automatically registered in the NDW WAAN, but must individually self-register. Because the NDW WAAN uses the NMCI domain, only NMCI account users are currently able to self-register. Self-registration is easily done with a common access card (CAC) on a NMCI computer/laptop, using the AtHoc Self-service Client application. To register, or to update an AtHoc profile, the NMCI user needs to log-in from a NMCI computer with the AtHoc self-service Client application loaded to it.

Davy added that it is important to register due to the valuable information passed down to personnel through the system.

"The WAAN may be used to inform you of emergencies and how to respond to them (e.g. the Navy Yard shooter), office closure due to weather or facility's issues, or other significant events happening or predicted within NDW," said Davy. "WAAN messages, especially after hours, are used to keep you apprised of significant events affecting your work life and safety. Disclosure of personal POCs is required for military and key civilians and voluntary for non-key civilians."

To register for AtHoc alerts download the complete self-registration instructions at http://www.cnic.navy.mil/content/cnic/cnic_hq/regions/ndw/about/waan/_jcr_content/par1/pdfdownload/file.res/NDW%20WAAN%20Registration%20Instructions%20140204.pdf

For more news from Naval District Washington, visit http://www.navy.mil/