DATE: Wednesday, July 16, 1997              TAG: 9707160451

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: A3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   50 lines

SENATE VOTES TO CONSOLIDATE MILITARY IDS LAWMAKERS ADOPT ROBB'S PLAN TO PROVIDE ``SMART CARDS'' FOR SAILORS AND MARINES.

The Senate voted Tuesday to reach into the wallets of thousands of sailors and Marines, but it's a good bet that the military members will find this visit more pleasant than most others from Uncle Sam.

At the urging of U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Va., the lawmakers agreed to redirect $36 million of the Pentagon's current budget to finance the issuance of ``smart cards'' to those in the naval services. The House has yet to act on the proposal.

The cards look like the credit and automated teller machine cards that millions of Americans use to do their shopping and banking. But each will carry a microchip able to store a wide variety of information about its bearer and provide that information to military agencies that need it.

Robb wants each sailor and Marine to carry a single smart card to replace a variety of other forms of identification now in use.

``A typical service member today might be required to carry a general ID card, a meal card, an equipment card, a weapons card, a military driver's license, a vehicle registration, a card to pick up mail, a card to carry if staying as a guest at another base, and, if lucky enough to be stationed near some good fishing, a fishing permit,'' Robb said in a Senate speech last week.

``With so much clutter, it's not uncommon for a service member to misplace one of their cards, which wastes even more of the military's time and resources replacing them,'' he added.

Robb argues that the smart cards could save the Navy and Marine Corps up to $98 million next year and $500 million over five years as their use is expanded. Military members carrying the cards will fill out a single application form, with the information they provide shared electronically with all the agencies to which they now must apply for individual permits.

The MARC card, for ``Multi-technology Automated Reader Card,'' will be able to carry its owner's security clearance, meal information, and immunization records, Robb told the Senate. It can even be used as a room key, and the information it carries can be updated as the service member is reassigned or needs additional identification.

Robb acknowledged that there are security and privacy concerns about having so much information on a single card, which might be stolen or lost. But the MARC card will have encryption technology to protect its data from anyone the bearer doesn't want to receive it, he said.

``Just as an ATM card is useless to a thief without a proper PIN number, a thief will find that, without authentication by its owner, a stolen smart card is a worthless piece of plastic,'' Robb said. KEYWORDS: MILITARY IDENTIFICATION CARD

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