Retired DOD civilian testifies to Ohio committee seeking reissuance of DOD retiree ID cards

Robert C. Beach, who identified himself as a retired Department of Defense civilian, testified at the second hearing on Senate Concurrent Resolution 7 urging Congress to reissue DOD civilian retiree identification cards.

Beach recounted a 29-year civilian career with the Department of Defense that included work at Navy Yard Philadelphia and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and described duties that included flight test engineering and instructor/examiner responsibilities. He told the committee that he accumulated roughly 3,800 flight hours during his civilian service and that, upon retirement as a GM-13, he received DOD ‘‘red passports’’ and a flight jacket from his unit.

Beach said the Real ID Act has left many retired DOD civilians without the same ease of access they previously had to military facilities. He said the change has forced retirees to present retirement papers and additional identification at base entrances rather than using DOD retiree credentials. Beach characterized the result as a removal from the ‘‘DOD family’’ and described the experience as degrading.

"The reality is we have been dumped from the DOD family," Beach said during his testimony.

Committee members thanked Beach for his service and for appearing. The committee record shows written testimony was also submitted by Christopher Lesniak, Walter Spalding and Stephen Pauling; the committee concluded the second hearing without a vote reported on the resolution.

No formal motion or committee decision to advance SCR 7 was recorded during the hearing; the item concluded after proponent testimony and return of the hearing record to committee staff.