Sheppard to discontinue use of base stickers

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  • By 82nd Security Forces Squadron
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Government identification card holders will no longer need a base sticker to access the base beginning Feb. 1.

Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, 82nd Training Wing commander ordered 82nd Security Forces Squadron personnel to discontinue issuing or enforcing use of DD Form 2220 for vehicles operated on Sheppard. However, motorists without a government ID card will be required to stop at the Visitor's Center at the main gate to get an AF Form 75, Visitor Pass.

There are a few reasons for the elimination of the DD Form 2220. First, the use of the vehicle decals is redundant since ID card checks are more effective, verifying the authority of a driver to enter the base.

Secondly, vehicle decals are a force protection vulnerability. They are easily counterfeited; moved from one car to another or found in used car parking lots.

Finally, the decals are an expensive and manpower-intensive duplication of state registration and licensing. The responsibilities of ensuring vehicles have current state registrations, state inspections and insurance solely lies with the operators.

It is recommended that drivers remove decals from their vehicles. This will help avoid advertising the driver's Defense Department affiliation while off base, which could be of interest to potential terrorists, criminals or foreign intelligence operatives.

Motorists who frequently drive onto the installations of other services might want to leave their decals on their vehicles. Security forces will continue to maintain the capability to issue the decals for those who routinely visit our sister service installations. 

In mid-2007, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley ended use of the sticker, officially called a DD Form 2220, on Air Force installations due to cost, a lack of utility and long-term threats facing bases. 

The decal was developed in the 1970s as part of a vehicle registration and traffic management system, not to bolster security, said Col. William Sellers, the Air Force chief of force protection and operations for security forces.

"There was a clear and definable need for this system (then)," he said. "A nationwide vehicle registration database did not exist, insurance was not required by all states and a process was needed to expedite vehicle entry onto installations."

Air Force officials began questioning the value of the vehicle registration system in 2005 due to security concerns.

Many people incorrectly viewed the decal as being designed to bolster security, Colonel Sellers said. In actuality, the decal lessens it by identifying vehicles of Airmen and civilian workers as potential terror targets and may lure gate guards into complacency.

Laws now require motorists to have a legal driver's license issued by a state, proof of vehicle ownership/state registration, evidence of insurance, and safety and emissions inspections. A national vehicle registration system is used by all civilian and military police departments in the country.

For more information, call the 82nd SFS Pass and Registration at 676-0336. 
(Air Force News service contributed to this story.)