Army Dog Tags Get First Update in 40 Years

By Tactical-Life

The following is a release from Daniela Vestal, U.S Army Human Resources Command Public Affairs:

After more than four decades, the identification tags issued to all Soldiers, commonly called “dog tags,” are getting an update.

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In accordance with Department of Defense guidance governing the reduction of the use of Social Security numbers, the Army published a new version of Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-8-14, Nov. 30. The pamphlet documents new procedures to replace Soldiers’ Social Security numbers with their Department of Defense identification numbers.

The change to using the 10-digit, randomly-generated number will be implemented on an as-needed basis, said Michael Klemowski, Soldiers Programs Branch chief, U.S. Army Human Resources Command.

“This change is not something where Soldiers need to run out and get new tags made,” Klemowski said. “We are focusing first on the personnel who are going to deploy. If a Soldier is going to deploy, they are the first ones that need to have the new ID tags.”

The removal of the Social Security number from ID tags is one of the ways the Army is safeguarding the personally-identifiable information of its Soldiers whenever possible, Klemowski said.

“I think removing the …Read the Rest

Source:: Tactical Life