Last year's tragic shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, forced the Department of Defense to reevaluate its force protection policies and procedures. After a thorough independent review of that heartbreaking November day that saw 13 people killed and 30 others wounded, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued his final recommendations on how military bases can avoid suffering such a tragedy in coming years.

These official recommendations, which were released in August of this year, were created to identify and mend the existing gaps and deficiencies in the department's current force protection approach. These proposed initiatives include clarifying force protection roles and responsibilities, improving information sharing and mental healthcare services, and implementing an emergency management program.

Specifically, Gates and the independent review board called for military bases to install E911 solutions, which automatically notify emergency personnel and dispatchers of the caller's location, even if the call was made from a cell phone.

“The Follow-On Review determined military personnel should receive the same emergency response services as their civilian counterparts," the report read. "A DoD E911 capability must be funded to meet full operational capability…as soon as possible and no later than 2014. The Secretary places a high priority on this IEM program."

Gates and the independent review board were quick to embrace E911 solutions because they provide precise location information to emergency and law enforcement personnel and have been proven to drastically reduce emergency response time.

E911, and the other force protection recommendations, are currently being discussed at the National Guard Bureau Joint C4I Conference, which wraps up in Nashville on Dec. 9. During the conference, military personnel and civilian contractors will work through the details of Gates' plan and talk about the best way to implement the various solutions.

For more information on E911 solutions and how they can be integrated with on-base and off-base emergency response systems, check out this white paper authored by RedSky Technologies, a leading E911 solutions provider. The white paper offers readers a synopsis of the Secretary's recommendations and introduces them to the basic benefits of automated E911 software solutions.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Patrick Barnard