"Echoes," the Army’s official 16-page newsletter for retired soldiers, surviving spouses, and their families, is published three times a year and mailed to more than 980,000 worldwide.Its purpose is to keep retired soldiers and family members up-to-date on their entitlements and benefits, keep them connected as part of the Army family, and to inspire goodwill and a desire to support the Army within their civilian communities.The Army Retirement Services Office has felt the impact of the current financial crisis.In anticipation of further budgetary cuts, in September 2011, the Army executed phase one of its transition from hard copy to electronic delivery of "Echoes," or "e-Echoes" as it’s called.Now, soldiers retiring in 2012 and beyond will no longer have the option to receive hard copy delivery of "Echoes"; they must sign up for "e-Echoes" before they retire.The Army Retirement Services Office continues to encourage current recipients of the hard copy of "Echoes" to volunteer to receive "e-Echoes." The goal for 2012 is to increase online volunteers from 46,000 to 150,000.To sign up for "e-Echoes," just go here.You’ll be asked for your name, your email address and your social security number. Your social security number because that is the unique identifier that allows us to pull your name from the master list of retirees and annuitants that the Defense Finance and Accounting Service – Cleveland (DFAS – CL) maintains, which is used as the current list of retirees to receive the hard copy edition of "Echoes." Your personal information is only used for this purpose.Retirement Services is working closely with DFAS-CL and the Army Human Resources Command to eliminate the need to ask for your full social security number, but this office is still working through technical issues.The "e-Echoes" registration Web site is secure, which you can tell from the small lock symbol on your computer screen and the Web page address that starts with "https."When you visit this page, you may see a security certificate warning that says your computer cannot confirm the security of the Web site. This is because your computer does not contain the current Department of Defense security certificate. You can disregard the warning and access our Web page with confidence."Echoes" can be found online at: https://soldierforlife.army.mil/retirement/echoes.(Editor’s note: This story is based on a release by Mark Overberg, deputy chief, Army Retirement Services, and Mark Jackson, public affairs officer.)