[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 52 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13407-13408]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6541]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and 
Readiness).

ACTION: Notice.

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    In compliance with Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995, the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel 
and Readiness) announces the following proposed reinstatement of a 
public information collection and seeks public comment on the 
provisions thereof. Comments are invited on: (a) whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall 
have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of 
burden of the proposed information collection; (c) ways to enhance the 
quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and 
(d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collection on 
respondents, including through the use of automated collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by May 17, 
1999.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations on the proposed 
information collection should be sent to the Office of the Under 
Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness), ODUSD(PI)/Defense Human 
Resources Activity, ATTN: Ms. Sheila Ford, 4040 Fairfax Boulevard, 
Suite 200, Arlington, VA 22203.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request more information on this 
proposed information collection or to obtain a copy of the proposal and 
associated collection instruments, please write to the above address or 
call at (703) 696-1022.
    Title, Associated Form, and OMB Number: Application for Uniformed 
Services Identification Card--DEERS Enrollment, DD Form 1172, OMB 
Number 0704-0020.
    Needs and Uses: This information collection requirement is 
necessary to authorize members of the Uniformed Services, their spouses 
and dependents, and other authorized individuals certain benefits and 
privileges. These privileges include health care, use of commissary, 
base exchange, and morale, welfare, and recreation facilities. This 
information collection is needed to obtain the necessary data to 
determine eligibility, to provide eligible individuals with an 
authorization card (identification card) for benefits and privileges 
administered by the Uniformed Services, and maintain a centralized 
database of eligible individuals. This information collection may also 
be used by the military departments and the Defense agencies to issue 
their non-benefit identification cards.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Annual Burden Hours: 281,092.
    Number of Respondents: 1,623,246.
    Responses Per Respondent: 1.
    Average Burden Per Response: 10 minutes.
    Frequency: On occasion.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Summary of Information Collection

    This information collection identifies those individuals eligible 
for the benefits and privileges authorized in Sections 1061-1065, 1072-
1074c, 1076, 1076a, 1077, 1174a, 1175, and 1408 of Title 10 and 
issuance of the appropriate Uniformed Services identification cards.
    The Uniformed Services identification card is the key to authorized 
usage of military health care, commissary, exchange privileges, and 
morale, welfare, and recreation facilities. In order to obtain this 
identification card, an applicant is required to go to an 
identification card issuing site and update a DD Form 1172, 
``Application for Uniformed Services Identification Card--DEERS 
Enrollment.'' The sponsor, or person authorized to sign the DD Form 
1172 in accordance with the criteria established in DoD Instruction 
1000.13, provides appropriate dependent information and verification, 
i.e., birth certificate, marriage license, etc. The information is 
entered into an automated system by the identification card issuing 
official and reviewed by the applicant. Once the applicant has reviewed 
the information for correctness, the sponsor, or person authorized to 
sign the form, will sign the system-printed DD Form 1172. The DD Form 
1172 must be signed by both the sponsor (or person authorized to sign 
the form) and the verifying official. The person authorized to sign the 
form must sign it in the presence of the verifying official. On those 
rare occasions where the sponsor (or personnel authorized to sign the 
form) is unable to accompany his/her dependent to the identification 
card issuing site, the signature must be notarized in accordance with 
the criteria set forth in DoD Instruction 1000.13 prior to verification 
by the verifying official. This does not happen very often and does not 
create a significant increase in burden to the public. Once the DD Form 
1172 has been properly signed, the form is taken to the identification 
card issuing site for issuance of the ID card. The data are transmitted 
to the Defense Manpower Data Center to be entered into the Defense 
Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) database. The 
application is required to update the information once every four years 
or as changes occur, i.e., reservist entering active duty or being 
released from active duty.
    This information collection may also be used to identify employees 
and certain contractors of the military departments and Defense 
agencies for the purpose of issuance of a non-benefit identification 
card. This group may include civilians and contractors who regularly 
require official identification in connection with their official 
business.
    Individuals eligible for this program include: active duty, 
reserve, and retired personnel of the Uniformed Services (Army, Navy, 
Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, US Public Health Service, and 
NOAA) and their dependents; surviving dependents of deceased active

[[Page 13408]]

duty and deceased retired personnel; certain Federal employees; certain 
contract employees; certain State Department employees employed in a 
foreign country and their dependents; any other individuals entitled to 
care under the Uniformed Services health care program; individuals 
entitled to Uniformed Services benefits and privileges and a Uniformed 
Services identification card; any eligible individual who submits a 
health care claim; and individuals eligible for certain civilian non-
benefit identification cards.

    Dated: March 11, 1999.
L.M. Bynum,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 99-6541 Filed 3-17-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 5000-04-M