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October 25, 2004
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By Seth Robson,
Stars and Stripes Pacific Edition
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea — Second Infantry Division identification
cards are going missing at an average rate of more than 60 per month
according to Military Police, who are anxious to stop them from
falling into the hands of people wanting to access U.S. bases on
the Korean Peninsula illegally.
2nd ID/Area I Provost Marshal Lt. Col. Patrick Williams said the
division’s soldiers — 14,000 before 2nd Brigade Strike Force deployed
to Iraq,
10,000 thereafter — lost more than 720 identification cards from
Jan. 1 to the end of September.
The issue received increased attention after an article in a recent
edition of Indianhead, the 2nd ID newspaper, suggested ID cards
could be bought on the black market for up to $1,000.
The article quoted 2nd ID command Sgt. Maj. James Lucero saying:
“It is very critical that soldiers don’t give or sell their ID to
anyone, especially a non-military person … For soldiers who sell
their ID card they will absolutely be punished to the fullest extent
possible.”
However, Williams, who also was quoted in the article, said Thursday
that he was not aware of any soldier selling an ID card, of black-market
sales of the cards or of people trying to get on post with another
person’s military ID. There had been incidents of people trying
to get onto bases with false civilian ID, he said.
“There have been no cases of ID cards being sold. That hasn’t happened.
Every one [that goes missing], the guy has lost control of it,”
he said.
2nd ID spokesman Maj. Mike Lawhorn, who oversees production of
the Indianhead, said the goal of the stories was to make soldiers
aware that the potential is there for people to try to acquire ID
cards illegally.
“It is not that we have been told that person X is trying to get
it, but with the added emphasis on force protection it is just one
piece of the puzzle,” he said.
Emphasis on keeping track of ID cards is part of stepped-up force
protection at 2nd ID facilities, Williams said.
U.S. Forces Korea officials cited U.S. Embassy terror warnings
as the reason for a Peninsula-wide 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for USFK
personnel from Sept. 24 to Oct. 8. Second ID’s goal is zero tolerance
for lost ID cards, Williams said.
“We don’t want any lost. One lost ID is too many,” he said.
Soldiers who lose their ID cards can be punished under the Uniform
Code of Military Justice depending on the circumstances in which
they lose their cards, he said. Soldiers report losing cards in
a wide range of situations, he said.
“One guy said the last time he used it was when he went to the
library. Another guy said the last time he saw his card was in his
room. Two hours later he didn’t know where it was,” he said.
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| Cpl Kim Simon, left, and Pfc. Jung Hongbae,
center, both of the 2nd Infantry Division's Headquarters and
Headquarters Company, check 2nd ID spokesman Maj. Mike Lawhorn's
identification card at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea, on Thursday. (Seth Robson / S&S)
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No soldiers have admitted to losing their ID cards at bars or nightclubs
in Tongduchoen, but it was unlikely that a soldier would own up
to that if it happened, Williams said.
MPs include lost ID cards in blotter reports so commanders can
address the issue if several soldiers from the same unit lose their
IDs. The cards are sensitive items, in the same class as night-vision
goggles or weapons, he said.
“The ID card is not your property. It is the government’s. These
are things you just can’t lose without attention being paid to how
it happened. When you lose it, go to the MP station [and report
it missing],” he said.
The new ID cards are difficult to manipulate or alter and include
a computer chip with the user’s personal details. Scanners allow
gate guards to make sure the image on the card has not been altered
since it was issued, Williams said.
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