Historically, Veterans Administration (VA), Activities Offices Center, Retirement Activities Offices (RAO), and other military affiliated groups, have encouraged separating and retiring personnel to file their DD214's
with their county court-house so that they would always have access to a legitimate copy in case their original is lost. We have always encouraged personnel in Transition Assistance Program class to do this;
however, here's a reason we might want to re-think it.
A retired Master Chief came by my office with a scary story. His identification was stolen the beginning of September. He received a call from American Express because someone had tried to establish credit
in his name, and, in early September, was trying to cash a $9,000 check. They flagged the check because apparently there was a different address on file for the Master Chief than what showed on the check. When he was called, he of course reported it.
The next night, the Master Chief received a call from an investigator telling him that they tracked down the fellow who stole his identification.
The person is a lawyer who had a laptop computer with several thousand MILITARY names, SSN's and other information. Each military person was separated or retired and their common link was that they had filed their
DD214's with a county clerk. The Master Chief was told that this lawyer had accessed the DD214 information through the public court computer system.
I called the Camden County courthouse and asked about their procedures for DD214's. The clerk told me that although DD214's were not put on their computers, they were public record. In fact, with the exception of adoption papers, anything filed through the courthouse was public record. A check with the county clerk in Brunswick revealed the same information. In fact, when asked directly if someone could obtain a certified copy of a DD214, the answer was "yes." The clerk did say that they would verify the SSN (which of course you could look up on the public record first!).
This is really scary stuff, and it gets scarier. I called Personnel Service Division (PSD) and asked them what a retiree would need to replace a lost ID card and asked specifically if a certified court-copy of a DD214 would suffice. I was informed that they usually ask to see a picture ID but would probably issue the ID card without it, so long as the member had a certified copy of his DD214! I told the ID card section leader this story and warned him to be careful. This was the Master Chief's main concern: that it appears that it would be easy for others to steal your identity and get a valid ID card to get access to military bases.
I notified the RAO, the VA Representative, and the TAMP Manager, who called the Retired Activities Program Director at BUPERS and gave him a heads-up on the situation. The superiors at the VA are being notified,
as is the TAMP Program Manager in PERS.
Unfortunately, the down side to not filing the DD214 with the county court is the hassle it can take to replace a lost DD214. It can take months to get one replaced, if at all. The bottom line is safeguarding this important document. Have folks make copies and keep the original in a safe place kid/animal/ fire proof, etc...).
