What is the purpose of the DoD Root Certificate?

A certificate is a digital document providing the identity of a website or individual.  The Army/DoD Portal uses a certificate to identify itself to its users and to enable a secure connection.

Army Community Members

If you have an Army Account type (Full or Sponsored), you can retrieve the DoD Root Certificates within the AKO/DKO portal.  Use the following instructions to get the DoD Root certificate from the AKO/DKO portal. The page will bring you to a CAC configuration Page.  You do not need to have a CAC or  configure your computer with a CAC reader to download the certificates.

NOTE:  Some computers will not let you run the file from the web browser (this is very common in IE 9, and Firefox).  Simply Right click the link above and select Save Target As.  Save it to your computer desktop.  Then Right click the file and select Run as Administrator.  It should run now. Step by step guide.

  1. Log into AKO/DKO.  Note:  You do not need the DoD Root Certificate to access AKO/DKO.  When you get the certificate message, choose the option that will allow you to continue on anyway.
  2. Click on ‘Quick Links’.
  3. Click on ‘CAC’.
  4. Click on ‘CAC Resource Center’.
  5. Click on Step 3: DoD Certificates under the CAC Installation Quick Start on the left side of the page.
  6. Follow the instructions in the DoD Certificate Information area for Downloading the latest DoD Certificates.

If you have trouble accessing the page listed above you can also visit the following page to download the DoD Root Certificates: http://dodpki.c3pki.chamb.disa.mil/rootca.html .

CAC Assistance

The DoD Root Certificate is not a CAC certificate.  If you need assistance with a CAC related issue, please browse the other CAC related FAQs on the AKO/DKO help page.