Navy officials have announced that they are preparing the service for 100 percent ID scanning to be implemented at every base by fiscal year 2014, according to a report from Navy Times.
The latest step is a pilot program now underway at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., the article says. Officials with Navy Installations Command say the scanning eventually will speed up the process, but not anytime soon.
During the pilot program so far, the scanning was expected to cause delays at the gates, and commuters were told to allot more time to get to work, the article reports.
The end goal is 100 percent ID scanning, 100 percent of the time, says Pat Foughty, a public affairs specialist at Navy Installations Command, in the Navy Times article. Base commanding officers will have some flexibility during the implementation phase to adjust the program if wait times become a problem, but the ID scanning at entrance based will eventually help officials make the leap to automated vehicle gates – also expected during fiscal 2014, the article says.
“Automated gates will allow individuals to drive up [and] swipe their card, and the gates will open to allow access to the facility,” says Tony Reid, anti-terrorism program director at Navy Installations Command, in the article. “It will reduce manpower requirements placed on security forces.”
Reid also notes that the automated gates should speed things up.
When a car approaches the gate for the first time, the guard scans the ID – the common access card for base personnel or Teslin card for dependents and retirees, the article says. The initial scan should take about eight seconds, and subsequent scans take about two. That doesn’t sound like much, the article notes, but when multiplied by 1,500 cars, it adds up.
By comparison, a security officer visually inspecting an ID and examining the photo takes, on average, 10-12 seconds.
The scanning process will let guards know if a card is current and legitimate, along with helping dependents stay current.
People without ID cards, such as visitors, will have to go to the Pass and ID Office before being allowed onto the premises, but the article is clear in reassuring readers that visitors are in a different line than those with IDs – which would prevent unnecessary delays.
The Norfolk trial is the first large-scale pilot, but 23 smaller trials of 100 percent ID scanning have taken place around the San Diego metro area and at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.
At the conclusion of the pilot programs, feedback will be collected from major stakeholders at the base and electronic data will be analyzed, says Reid in the article.
