FORT RUCKER, Ala. (Army News Service, Feb. 23, 2007) - A tool used by Soldiers to assess the risk of driving their privately owned vehicles on trips will become the same tool used by Airman, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen beginning next month.

Known to Soldiers as ASMIS-2, the tool will now be TRiPS, or Travel Risk Planning System. It was adopted because of its ability to give users a comprehensive risk assessment based on their travel plans, and recommendations to help lower risks.

"ASMIS-2's greatest value has always been the one-on-one interaction and dialogue it promotes between the supervisor and subordinate," said the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center Sgt. Maj. David Griffith. "The specific questions asked about an upcoming trip allow supervisors and Soldiers to engage and help identify potential faults in driving plans, and help provide other alternatives."

Since its implementation in the Army, more than 1,783,000 assessments have been completed by Soldiers, with 6 fatalities occurring during assessed trips. These statistics suggest that users may be less likely to be involved in fatal mishaps, Griffith said. TRiPS is expected to continue yielding the same results.

While most elements of ASMIS-2 remain the same - such as inputting information like the type of vehicle being driven, age, start and end points, expected sleep before traveling and seatbelt use - TRiPS offers more than just a name change. The tool offers additional features specifically for supervisors. One of the new features allows supervisors to view the TRiPS activity of their subordinates two levels down, which offers more opportunity for leadership engagement and awareness.

"TRiPS will continue to provide users with risk-awareness features such as the mapping feature," said Griffith. "However, the new features make this positive and proven tool even more valuable in the fight against POV fatalities of not only our Solders, but all DOD servicemembers and civilians."

Army personnel can expect to notice the name change of ASMIS-2 to TRiPS on the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center's Web site at <a href="https://crc.army.mil"target=_blank> crc.army.mil</a> this March.

(Kelly Widener writes for the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center.)