CAPE MAY, NJ -—The Coast Guard announced Thursday that approximately 8,900 of its military members are at risk of losing access to their Common Access Cards (CAC) due to a failure to provide required identity documents, as outlined by Department of Defense (DoD) policy.
Coast Guard officials had overlooked this policy, which was not enforced during the administration of former President Joe Biden while the Coast Guard was under the command of fired commandant Admiral Linda Fagan.
The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) and DoD identified the issue, which stems from an oversight during initial onboarding at training facilities such as the Coast Guard Academy and Cape May Training Center. Trainees, recruits, officer candidates, and cadets were reportedly not required to present two original forms of identity documents, as mandated by federal guidelines in FIPS PUB 201-3 and DoD Instructions.
Impacted members have been notified by email and instructed to provide the necessary identity documents to their nearest DEERS office within 90 days. The Coast Guard has also advised commands to assist affected personnel in complying with the requirements.
Acceptable identity documents and DEERS office locations are available on official websites provided in the email notification. Failure to comply within the deadline could result in loss of CAC access, which is essential for military duties and secure systems access.
The Coast Guard emphasized the importance of correcting this issue to meet federal identity proofing standards.