Fort Bragg visitors from some states will no longer be allowed to use only their driver’s license to enter the post.
Officials have said the nation’s largest military installation has begun enforcement of the REAL ID Act, a 10-year-old law meant to help lawmakers detect fake identification following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Fewer than half of all states currently comply with the law, but most others, including North Carolina and Virginia, have received an extension to comply by Oct. 10.
Residents of states without an extension – including Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico and Washington – will no longer be able to use their state-issued identification “effective immediately,” said Fort Bragg spokeswoman Christina Douglas.
Those visitors will need to use some other form of identification, such as a U.S. passport, or be escorted at all times on the installation.
Fort Bragg officials said the process for gaining access to post is unchanged for the vast majority of visitors.
“If you have a DOD-issued ID card, you can use it at the gates as you always have,” said spokesman Tom McCollum.
The REAL ID Act was born out of recommendations from the 9/11 Commission report in 2004.
That report noted that preventing terrorists from obtaining state-issued identification documents was critical to national security.
The law does not create a national identification card or database of driver’s license information, but instead sets national standards for states to use to help prevent the use of fake IDs, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The law serves as a mandate on federal agencies, and participation by states is voluntary, although federal agencies are prohibited from accepting identification from noncompliant states for many official purposes.