Afterburner: Winter 2019/Spring 2020

The Fall/Winter 2019-2020 edition of the Afterburner, Newsletter for Department of the Air Force Retired Personnel, is now available online.

The newsletter can be viewed by visiting the Air Force Retiree Services website.  To do so, copy or type the following address into a new browser window:

https://www.retirees.af.mil/Library/Afterburner/

Scroll down and the new edition is under the banner for 2019. An archive of current and past issues are on the same webpage.

In this issue, there is a short article that answers a question asked by many retirees.

Q: Is my retiree identification card compliant with the REAL ID Act? 

A: Currently, all forms of military identifications issued with a bar code from the DEERS/RAPIDS programs are REAL ID Act compliant, allowing access to commercial aircraft and government buildings as they do now. 

The short article goes on to say:

Also, in Spring/Summer 2020, the Department of Defense will roll out the next generation of military retiree ID cards. This new ID will reflect a color photo of the card holder instead of the current gray-scale version, along with new security enhancements to protect a person’s identity. 

Replacing current retiree ID cards is not required. Because there is no mandate to replace current IDs in circulation, replacements will be based on normal attrition to avoid burdening retirees, their family members and ID card issuance facilities.