Officials say ID system will enhance security

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Officials say ID system will enhance security
By Bryce S. Dubee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, May 6, 2008

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Act now or wait later is the message Yokota security officials are trying to convey to base residents in an effort to register as many people as possible in the Defense Biometric Identification System, or DBIDS.

The computer-based security and identification system keeps a database of biometric information such as a person’s height and weight, eye color and fingerprints. The information plus a color photograph are stored and used to identify personnel entering a military installation.

The system was used first at U.S. Forces Korea installations and was fully implemented throughout USFK in September 2001. Since then, DBIDS implementation has spread to other Department of Defense installations around the world, including Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, which began using the system in 2005.

“The reason Yokota is implementing DBIDS is to increase our ability to detect the ever present danger of fraudulent ID cards, provide better visibility of the numerous local contractors, and to improve our visitor control procedures,” explained David Edenfield, chief of the security forces plans division of 374th Security Forces Squadron. A person’s information is tracked using the bar code on his or her identification card. Individuals without a military or DOD-issued ID card — such as Japanese national employees and children under age 10 — will be issued a DBIDS card with their bar-coded information.

Edenfield said one of the biggest benefits of the system is it provides security personnel detailed information about a person’s status on the base.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54566