How to Spot a Fake Retired Military ID Card

The Next Generation Uniformed Services ID, or USID, is an updated military ID card designed to resemble the Common Access Cards (CACs) issued to active duty service members. The new cards feature plastic construction with color ID photos for ease of identification; these will be made available to retirees, inactive reservists on either Permanent Disability Retired Lists or Temporary Disability Retired Lists as well as spouses of military servicemembers over 10 and former DOD civilian employees.

A member’s ID card contains their name, birthdate, affiliation (if applicable), branch of service, rank and pay grade as well as additional information such as their DoD ID Number, Benefits Number Geneva Convention Category number as well as bar code or magnetic stripe information. Beginning 2009 the DoD phased out social security numbers on military and retiree ID cards.

If a CAC or USID card no longer meets their needs, or carrying around is inconvenient, one way to show proof of military connection is with a DD Form 214 which can be shrunk down for wallet size by office supply stores like Office Depot or Fed-Ex/Kinkos or an online provider such as Shrink It. Be mindful of scammers posing as service members asking for money on dating websites by showing fake military ID cards as evidence; red flags include sending it by mail which violates federal law.