Proposed Collection; Comment Request

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

Proposed Collection; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and

Readiness).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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