YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Individuals entering Yokosuka are being screened more thoroughly through the new Defense Biometric Identification System, according to those who designed and now use it.

DBIDS links people’s biographic data to their ID card bar codes. Security personnel, using special hand-held scanners, can verify identity and alert security if the card has been reported stolen or the cardholder is wanted by police. Being tested at Yokosuka, it eventually is to extend to all installations in Japan.

“It gives guards so much information ... helps them make better decisions,” said Patrick J. Mcgee, Asian Operations manager for the Defense Manpower Data Center, which created DBIDS.

In South Korea, where installations have used DBIDS since 1999, the system helped winnow murder investigation suspects, Mcgee said, and nab someone accused of stealing a servicemember’s car with his ID card inside.

The program’s heart, Mcgee said, is a centralized and current database of biometric details including a photograph, identifying information such as height and weight, and fingerprints.

Depending on the force-protection level and specific needs, a fingerprint reader can be added to the scanner to match would-be entrants with prints on record.

The system augments what’s collected by the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS/Rapid) with a local address, phone numbers and vehicles or even pets registered to the cardholder.

Security currently can’t tell by looking at an ID whether the card was reported stolen, the cardholder is wanted for a crime or is on an unauthorized absence.

“An ID doesn’t tell you if there’s restrictions,” Mcgee said.

Those lacking DOD identification cards, including Japanese national employees and children under 10, will receive special DBIDS cards with their bar-coded information. Those with common access cards, retiree or dependent IDs can use their ordinary cards.

Children aren’t required to get the cards but doing so provides a form of photo identification and links them to their sponsors, officials said. In emergencies, security officials can use the cards to learn quickly to whom a child belongs. The cards also would keep track of noncombatants being evacuated.

About four-fifths of those assigned to Yokosuka have registered for the system, officials said, adding that eventually, those not in DBIDS likely will face some type of secondary check. In South Korea, Mcgee said, DOD civilians not in the system must show a second form of ID to enter a base; South Korean employees not in the system are barred entry until they register with DBIDS.

According to Yokosuka base officials, what to require of non-registrants when DBIDS is fully operational has yet to be decided.

Yokosuka’s system, launched in November, is the first in Japan. DBIDS also is in use in Germany, Italy, Kuwait and Qatar, Mcgee said.

DBIDS at Yokosuka is in a trial phase as security personnel familiarize themselves with its features and people become accustomed to it, Mcgee said.

Registration takes just a few minutes. “It was very important to the command to make sure it would not be an instant burden to the community,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Deo Pineda, assistant security officer for Yokosuka.

The system is encrypted and operated by the same command as the DEERS system, the Defense Manpower Data Center.

If the system runs into computer problems, the gates still could function. “We would just revert to what we’re doing right now,” said Kim McCann, base physical security and force protection specialist.

How to register

According to base officials, people can register for the Yokosuka DBIDS system at two locations. The registration is mandatory for all personnel assigned to the base (and recommended for those who visit regularly) including servicemembers, civilians, dependents and local nationals.

Servicemembers, retirees and DOD civilians need only their common access card to register; once their sponsor is registered, dependents need a copy of their stationing orders and their family entry approval form.

People can register at two locations: the main gate security office and the former dental clinic at the waterfront. They may register from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

Yokosuka is the first base in Japan to implement a new biometric ID card system used at military bases in Europe, South Korea and the Middle East.

— Juliana Gittler