ID Cards To Go Total Force Green

 
American Forces Press Service
  
	WASHINGTON -- Identification cards for all active 
status service members will share the common green color of 
the cards active duty members carry now.
	Defense Secretary William S. Cohen announced the change 
will be phased in over two to five years, beginning as early 
as June 1998.
	The modifications include changing the reserve active 
status forces identification card [DD Form 2 (Reserve)] from 
red to green. Reserve active status forces include members 
of the Selected Reserve, the Individual Ready Reserve and 
the active Standby Reserve. Only the color will change. 
Current service benefits, privileges and entitlements remain 
the same, unless a change in status occurs. 
	The change responds to a pledge made by Cohen in a 
recent policy memorandum calling on the civilian and 
military leadership of the Defense Department to eliminate 
"all residual barriers –- structural and cultural" to 
effective integration of the reserve and active components 
into a "seamless total force." 
	Implementing instructions from the services must be 
coordinated and published prior to issuing green ID cards to 
reserve component members. The only ID card being affected 
is the DD Form 2 (Reserve). The color of all other Uniformed 
Services Identification Cards will remain the same. 
	Red identification cards (DD Form 2 (reserve retired) 
will continue to be issued to "gray-area retirees" –- 
members of the retired reserve who have not reached age 60. 
Family members of reservists will also continue to receive 
the red (DD Form 1173-1) ID card. 
	The cards will identify the member's reserve component 
service in the upper righthand corner. The seven components 
are Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Naval Reserve, Marine 
Corps Reserve, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve and 
Coast Guard Reserve. 
	Among the many considerations of DoD officials when 
authorizing the change were medical benefits and commissary 
privileges -- two primary areas in which active and reserve 
component personnel have different entitlements. An ID card 
alone does not automatically authorize access to medical 
benefits or commissary privileges; both will continue to 
require additional documentation to allow members of the 
reserve components to use them.
	

(From a DoD release)

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