If you have lost your CAC card, report it to your chain of command or sponsor and your local security office immediately so the card can be revoked in DEERS, then bring two forms of ID and a signed lost-or-stolen confirmation letter to a RAPIDS ID card office to get a replacement. The whole process moves quickly once the paperwork is in order, but every hour between the loss and the report is time the card’s certificates and access privileges remain live.
Report the Loss Right Away
Your CAC is not just a photo ID. It holds PKI certificates that let you digitally sign documents, encrypt email, and log into DoD networks, and it controls physical access to installations. The moment you realize it’s missing, the clock starts on potential unauthorized use.
Notify your chain of command, or your sponsoring organization if you’re a contractor or civilian employee, and your local security office or Trusted Agent. The security office will revoke the card in DEERS, which simultaneously kills the PKI certificates embedded on the chip.1DoD Common Access Card. Managing Your Common Access Card (CAC) That revocation only gets triggered when you report the loss. Until then, anyone who finds the card could potentially use it to enter a facility or reach a network.
Be ready to give the date, time, location, and circumstances of the loss. If you’re away from your duty station, call your security office and make a formal report as soon as you return.2USAGov. How to Report a Lost or Stolen Military or Veteran ID Card
Documents You’ll Need to Bring
Replacing the card takes two categories of paperwork: proof of identity and written confirmation that you reported the loss. Miss either one and the ID card office will turn you away.
Two Forms of Identification
Bring two original documents. At least one must be a valid, unexpired state or federal government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport.3DoD Common Access Card. Next Generation Uniformed Services ID Card – Getting Your ID Card The second can be any item from the DoD’s list of acceptable identification, including a Social Security card, birth certificate, or voter registration card.4CAC.mil. DoD Identity and Eligibility Documentation Requirements Photocopies are not accepted. If your only photo ID was the lost CAC itself, you may need to replace a driver’s license or use a passport before RAPIDS can help you.
Lost or Stolen Confirmation Letter
You need written documentation from your local security office or CAC sponsor confirming that you reported the card missing. It gets scanned into your DEERS record.1DoD Common Access Card. Managing Your Common Access Card (CAC) The exact format varies by installation and service branch, but it usually takes the form of a memorandum on unit letterhead signed by your commanding officer, first sergeant, or supervisor. Contractors typically need signatures from both their sponsor and their supervisor.
This is where the process stalls for most people. Your command may have internal steps before signing that letter, including having you explain what happened. Don’t wait until your appointment day to start it. Get the letter moving the same day you report.
Book the RAPIDS Appointment
With both IDs and the signed letter in hand, use the ID Card Office Online portal to find the nearest RAPIDS site and book an appointment.5DMDC Customer Connect Portal. ID Card Office Online Appointments are strongly recommended. Walk-ins are seen only after scheduled customers, and waits can stretch at busy offices.
At the appointment, a Verifying Official checks your two IDs and your confirmation letter, verifies your identity and eligibility in DEERS, takes a new digital photo, and scans your fingerprints. The new card prints on the spot. Your replacement carries the same expiration date as the card you lost, so you neither gain nor lose time on it.6U.S. Army Human Resources Command. DEERS RAPIDS CAC Support Office Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re stationed overseas, RAPIDS offices operate at most major installations. The documentation requirements are identical.
If Your CAC Was Stolen
When the card was stolen rather than misplaced, many commands require you to file a police report with either the installation’s military police or local civilian law enforcement. Even where it isn’t strictly mandated, a police report is worth having. It creates an official record if someone misuses the card, and at some installations it can substitute for the standard command letter.
Bring a copy of the report or the case number to your replacement appointment. The Verifying Official may ask for it during the documentation review.
Recovering Your Encrypted Email
This is the part that catches people off guard. If you used your old CAC to encrypt emails or files, those encryption keys lived on the chip in the lost card. Your new CAC has fresh certificates, so previously encrypted messages won’t open until you recover the old keys.
DISA operates an Auto Key Recovery service for retrieving encryption keys from previous CACs. The recovery portal is only accessible from a government unclassified network computer, not from home. Once you’re on a government machine with your new CAC, authenticate with the new card’s identification certificate (not the email certificate), browse the available keys by date to find the ones matching your lost card, and install them. Your old encrypted emails should then open normally.
If automated recovery doesn’t work, contact your service branch’s PKI help desk. Army users, for example, can email the NETCOM PKI office to request manual key recovery. The keys are backed up on DoD servers, not just on the card, so old encrypted messages are not lost.
Getting By Until the New Card Arrives
Between the loss and the replacement, you’re effectively locked out of DoD systems and may have trouble getting through installation gates. Ask your security office about a temporary visitor pass or escort procedures for base access. For computer access, your unit’s information assurance officer may be able to set up a temporary account or waiver, though many units can’t accommodate this and you’ll simply be offline until the new card is printed. The faster you move through the reporting and documentation steps, the shorter the gap.
Consequences of Losing Your CAC
A single loss is generally treated as an administrative matter. You go through the reporting and replacement process, your command documents the incident, and that’s usually the end of it. The real costs are practical: lost network access, blocked gate entry, and time spent on paperwork.
Repeated losses are handled differently. Commands track these incidents, and a pattern of carelessness with government property can lead to counseling statements, negative evaluations, or other administrative action at your commander’s discretion. Each service branch approaches this its own way, but repeated losses draw increasing scrutiny.
Intentional misuse is a separate category. Federal law makes it a crime to manufacture, sell, or possess a counterfeit government identification card, punishable by a fine and up to six months in prison.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 701 – Official Badges, Identification Cards, Other Insignia DoD Instruction 1000.13 warns that anyone who willfully alters, damages, lends, or counterfeits a DoD ID card faces penalties under multiple federal statutes.8CAC.mil. DoD Instruction 1000.13 – Identification (ID) Cards for Members of the Uniformed Services, Their Dependents, and Other Eligible Individuals Simply losing the card doesn’t fall into that category. Lending it out, or letting it stay missing without reporting so someone else can use it, could.