How to Fill Out DD Form 1172-2: Sections, Signatures, and Verification

DD Form 1172-2 is the application that enrolls you or a family member in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and authorizes a Uniformed Services ID card. To fill out DD Form 1172-2, the sponsor completes the identifying and signature blocks (Sections I and II), adds dependent information in Section V when enrolling a family member, and either signs digitally through the ID Card Office Online portal or prints and signs a paper copy. Military officials handle Sections III, IV, and VI when the form is verified at a Real-Time Automated Personnel Identification System (RAPIDS) site.¹

Gather Your Documents First

Before you open the form, pull together the paperwork that supports what you’re claiming. The list depends on who is being enrolled:²

Spouse: marriage certificate, spouse’s birth certificate, spouse’s Social Security card, and a photo ID.
Biological child: birth certificate (or Consular Report of Birth Abroad, Form FS-240) and the child’s Social Security card.
Stepchild: everything for a biological child, plus the marriage certificate to the child’s parent.
Child born out of wedlock to a male sponsor: birth certificate, Social Security card, and a court order establishing paternity or a state Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form.
Full-time student over 21: a letter from the school registrar confirming full-time enrollment in pursuit of an associate degree or higher.
Dependent parent: DFAS letter of approval, the sponsor’s birth certificate, the parent’s photo ID, and the parent’s Social Security card.
Ward: DFAS letter of approval, court document placing the child in the sponsor’s household for at least one year, the ward’s birth certificate, and Social Security card.

Bring originals or certified copies. Foreign-language documents need a certified English translation. You’ll also need two forms of unexpired identification for the person receiving the card, one from a primary list (U.S. passport or passport card, state driver’s license or photo ID, Permanent Resident Card, foreign passport) and one from a secondary list (Social Security card, certified birth certificate with an official seal, voter registration card, or Certificate of Naturalization). The two cannot be the same type of document.³ An expired CAC or Uniformed Services ID can be used as a secondary document for a renewal, but not for a first-time card.

Working Through the Form Section by Section

The form has six sections, and you don’t fill out all of them. A sponsor enrolling a dependent completes Sections I, II, and V. A sponsor updating only their own record (a new duty status, for example) completes Sections I and II.⁴ If you’re on paper, print clearly in black or blue ink.

Section I: Sponsor or Employee Information

This is where the sponsor identifies themselves. Block 1 takes the sponsor’s last name, first name, and middle name or initial, up to 51 characters. Block 3 requires the sponsor’s Social Security Number or DoD ID Number. Collection of the SSN is authorized by Executive Order 9397, as amended, and by several sections of Title 10 of the United States Code.⁵ Block 4 captures the sponsor’s current duty status using the code table in the instructions.

Section II: Sponsor or Employee Declaration and Remarks

The sponsor signs here, certifying that the information is accurate. Providing false information is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison under 18 U.S.C. § 1001.⁶ If the sponsor cannot sign in the presence of a verifying official, the signature must be notarized.

Sections III and IV: Authorization and Verification

Leave these blank. Section III is signed by an authorizing official, usually at a military personnel office. Section IV is signed by the verifying official at the RAPIDS site when the card is processed.

Section V: Dependent Information

When you’re enrolling a family member, this is the block that links them to the sponsor’s DEERS record. Enter the dependent’s full legal name, date of birth, relationship to the sponsor, and residential address. Match the name to the supporting documents exactly. Discrepancies between what you write here and what appears on a birth certificate or marriage certificate are one of the more common reasons applications get bounced back.

Section VI: Receipt

Also left blank by you. The RAPIDS site completes it when the card is issued as your confirmation of receipt.

A completed and verified form is good for 90 days. If you don’t get to a RAPIDS site within that window, you’ll need to start over with a fresh form.⁵

Who Signs, and How

The sponsor is the default signer. The cleanest route is for a sponsor with a Common Access Card to sign digitally through the ID Card Office Online portal, which generates and signs the DD Form 1172-2 electronically and routes it to RAPIDS. The dependent can bring a printout to their appointment, though it isn’t required for the card to be issued.¹

When the sponsor is deployed, on temporary duty, or otherwise unavailable, a spouse or other representative can sign using a valid general Power of Attorney that is in effect at the time of signing. Wet and digital signatures are both acceptable. Any signature applied outside the physical presence of the verifying official must be notarized, whoever signs.⁵

Getting the Form Verified and the Card Printed

You can’t mail DD Form 1172-2 to a central processor. It has to be verified in person at a RAPIDS site, which are the ID card offices on military installations, at some reserve centers, and at certain government facilities. Use the locator at idco.dmdc.osd.mil to find one and book an appointment. Walk-in availability varies by location.⁷

At the appointment, the verifying official reviews the form, checks your supporting documents against what is already in DEERS, and takes a facial photograph for the new card. Most applicants leave the same visit with the physical ID card in hand. The card’s expiration is tied to the sponsor’s end of service, retirement date, or a dependent’s age milestone, whichever applies.

Renewals and Replacements Use the Same Form

A new DD Form 1172-2 is required for renewals and for replacing a lost or stolen card. You can begin renewal 30 to 120 days before the card expires, and submitting 30 to 60 days out is usually enough lead time to prevent a gap in benefits.⁸ Dependents replacing a lost card need the form signed by the sponsor or a representative acting under a valid Power of Attorney, then a trip to the nearest RAPIDS site with two acceptable identity documents.⁹

Keep DEERS Updated After Life Events

The form comes back into play after qualifying life events: marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, a child aging out, or a change in the sponsor’s duty status. After a marriage, for example, you have 90 days to add the new spouse and make any TRICARE plan changes.¹⁰ Each of those updates runs through the same form and the same verification at a RAPIDS site.

1
U.S. Department of Defense ID Card Office. Getting Your Uniformed Services ID Card
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TRICARE. Required Documents
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U.S. Department of Defense ID Card Office. Department of Defense List of Acceptable Identity Documents
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U.S. Department of Defense. Instructions for Completion of DD Form 1172-2
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Department of Defense (ESD). DD Form 1172-2 – Application for Identification Card/DEERS Enrollment
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally
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ID Card Office Online. ID Card Office Online
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U.S. Department of Defense ID Card Office. Online Uniformed Service Identification Card Renewal Pilot
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USAGov. How to Report a Lost or Stolen Military or Veteran ID Card
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Soldier for Life. TRICARE After Marriage