To gain entry to many military bases, visitors have to present a valid ID in order for military officials to verify their identities. This security measure prevents dangerous people from gaining access to the people and equipment housed on military property. Most Americans would use their driver’s licenses to verify their identities, but in some states that won’t be good enough.
The Pentagon announced that IDs from Illinois, New Mexico, Missouri, Washington and Minnesota can no longer be used to get visitor’s passes because they don’t meet the federal standards.
“Effective immediately, residents of these five states can no longer use their driver’s license to get a visitor’s pass,” Tom McCollum, a Fort Bragg spokesman said in a release today. “Driver’s licenses and identification cards issued by these states cannot be used to access not just Fort Bragg, but all federal facilities, to include other military installations.”
According to the 2005 REAL ID Act, every state-issued ID is required to meet a set of minimum standards in order to be legitimate in the eyes of the federal government. For example, an ID that doesn’t include your full legal name won’t even get you past airport security, let alone into military bases.
But changing state IDs is a slow-going business, and several states received an extension through 2016 to revise their IDs. There are only five states that are both non-REAL ID compliant and never got an extension–Illinois, New Mexico, Missouri, Washington and Minnesota.
Americans with driver’s licenses from those states will be unable to enter federal buildings, nuclear power plants or military facilities unless they bring secondary documents such as a social security card.
Valid forms of IDs in these states include passports, Native American documents, licenses from compliant states and federal ID cards. VA identification cards, however, are not accepted.
You can check the ID status of your state here.