The Army's Training and Doctrine Command now has its own online app store.
The TRADOC Application Gateway allows soldiers to download apps produced by the command. It The TRADOC Application Gateway is home to unclassified apps and interactive digital publications that are not considered "for official use only."
The intent is to get information to soldiers easily and quickly.
"Most soldiers have a mobile device of some sort, a cell phone, a tablet or something," said Lt. Col. Joseph A. Harris, the TRADOC capability manager for mobile learning, or TCM-M, according to an Army News Service article.
Soldiers use mobile devices every day to get the information they need, Harris said.
"What we are trying to do is ensure that we use what they are using already in order to get the information to them," he said. "We have a digital Army, and soldiers have that digital mindset, and we are just capitalizing on that."
The TRADOC Application Gateway is home to unclassified apps and interactive digital publications that are not considered "for official use only."
To access the site, soldiers can go to www.adtdl.army.mil, and log on with their Army Knowledge Online user name and password. Soldiers can, but don't need to, use a Common Access Card to access the site, according to the Army News story.
Among the apps found there now available are DFAS Info2Go, GoArmyEd, Performance Triad and Army Comprehensive Doctrine.
These apps also are available on commercial app stores, such as the Android app store, and they were added to the TRADOC Application Gateway as part of the evaluation for the new site, according the Army News article.
By January, plans call for 100 to 150 apps to be available on the TRADOC gateway.
The Army has app developers who can create develop apps requested by the force. Troops also can develop their own for possible inclusion on the gateway.
Future plans call for teams of developers to visit units across the Army to train mobile-app developers on-site, officials said. This then allows a proponent Army organization to learn how to develop and tailor its own apps.
Apps available on the TRADOC Application Gateway must be shown to be safe from malicious code so they don’t damage the Army network or soldiers’ mobile devices. , and They also must be reviewed by the appropriate proponent to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date.
