Number removal from ID cards continues

Published Sept. 16, 2009
By The Air Force Personnel Center

RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- In response to an increasing awareness of the growing need to protect the safety of service members, retirees and their families' identity information, the Department of Defense is beginning to remove Social Security numbers from identification cards.

The removal is being done in phases as computer software is modified. Phase one is under way and involves removing the family member's number and replacing it with "XXX-XX-XXXX" on the card. The sponsor's number will remain visible for now.

Phase two involves removing all printed Social Security numbers beginning later this year. Both the sponsor and cardholder numbers will be replaced with "XXX-XX-XXXX."

Phase three, set to begin in 2012, will involve removing Social Security numbers embedded in barcodes.

In January 2010, retires with an indefinite expiration date on their card can begin requesting a new card without a printed Social Security number. Family member ID cards will change when the cardholders' expired cards are renewed.

There are more than 1,500 ID card centers worldwide. To find the nearest center, visit the RAPIDS site locator at www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/owa/home.

People must present two forms of identification and one must be an unexpired federal- or state-issued ID.

(Courtesy of the Air Force Personnel Center "Afterburner" retiree newsletter)