ID cards on JBER begin to lose SSNs

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jack Sanders
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  On June 1, Social Security numbers on DoD identification cards will begin to disappear, said Maj. Monica M. Matoush, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

The effort is part of a larger plan to protect service members and other Department of Defense identification card holders from identity theft, officials said.

The initiative is phase two of a three-phase operation to remove the SSN from ID cards. Phase one, which started in June of 2008, removed dependents' SSNs from their ID cards, replacing them with their sponsors'.

Phase two will take place in June, and remove all SSNs from the cards except in the barcode. The final stage, scheduled for 2012, will remove the SSNs from cards entirely.

"It really hasn't affected JBER as an inconvenience," said Tech. Sgt. Curtis Jackson, 673d Force Support Squadron.

Those receiving DoD ID cards before the June 2011 date will still receive the current-style card, Jackson said.

"The system is unfortunately self-driven, it doesn't give us the option to go in and remove the social," Jackson said. "We don't get to pick and choose what's on the card and what's not."

Those wishing to replace their current ID card with the new SSN-free one are out of luck as well, because new ID card's will not be issued unless the current ID is within 30 days of its printed expiration date.

The only exceptions to the rule are retirees and dependents who maintain ID cards with indefinite expiration dates.

"At the beginning of July, if retirees and dependents with indefinite expirations, can come in and have the new ID card if they choose to," Jackson said.
 
"If they choose not to have one - if they like the picture, or whatever, they do not have to come in and get a new ID card. It's up to them."

Everyone getting a new ID card should remember to bring with them two forms of picture identification, Jackson said.

"The newest change that they're going to now is by the end of June, the social of the active-duty member or the sponsor will be removed from the card as well," Jackson said.
"The member will be issued a DoD information number which will be printed in the same block as the social security number is printed, and on the back of the card there will be a new spot for what's called a DoD benefits number.

(It) will only be printed on the card for those who receive DoD benefits," he said.

The number will ensure those who are supposed to receive any benefit, like medical care, do.