Visitors to Camp Lejeune, Cherry Point, Camp Pendleton and other U.S. Marine Corps installations nationwide will face stricter ID requirements to get on base starting Oct. 10.
Civilians visiting the bases will be required to have a REAL ID from their state or a second form of identification along with their driver’s license.
Acceptable forms of ID include a U.S. passport, a U.S. permanent resident card and a veteran’s health identification card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
A REAL ID is issued by the Division of Motor Vehicles. It looks and works like a driver’s license but has a gold star in the upper right-hand corner. The star indicates that you’ve met the identification standards spelled out in the federal REAL ID Act, which Congress passed in 2005 in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Travelers won’t need a REAL ID to board an airplane until Oct. 1, 2020. But federal facilities where ID is needed for entry have begun to phase in the new requirements; the U.S. Navy began requiring second forms of identification for those without a REAL ID last year.
People who fail to meet the Marine Corps’ new ID requirements will be refused access or will have to be escorted by a sponsor who meets the requirements.
North Carolina began issuing REAL IDs on May 1. More information on the state’s REAL ID program, including the forms of identification needed to get one, visit here.
Richard Stradling: 919-829-4739, @RStradling
___
(c)2017 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) –www.newsobserver.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
USMC Life contributed to the article
