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So, I got into an argument with my family. My cousin was upset that military ids cannot be accepted for alchohol, whIle Mexican driver licenses can.
I tried to explain was that military ids are on the surface way to easy to face because they lack security holograms among other things. He said that was a lie and stormed off and stopped talking to me.
but I have a question for service members because I don't see these ids alog. Hoe easy would it be to fake a military id? Or are they hard to fake aswell?

I've worked behind quite a few bars in my time and I was always told that the only forms of ID that were acceptable were driving licenses and passports. I also worked at RAF Marham, and the ID I had there was basically a laminated card with my picture and name on it.

So you are right, they are not a form of ID that you can use when buying age restricted products. But you can use them to get discounts on stuff in the U.S, is that right? As to the 'fakery' aspect, I've no idea. Never tried...

Beyond "verifying" that the person in question is of age, are there actually laws on what can and cannot be accepted?

I speak from ignorance here, but it sounds like it's one of those things where it's just easier to accept very common forms of id. I've found that most people are barely able to handle an out of state ID. I was up in Chicago for Adepticon one year and I recall that the waitress at one of the establishments up there actually had to get a manager involved simply because I flashed a Missouri drivers license and she said she didn't know if it was a fake or not, nevermind that I get regularly pegged for being a good 5 years older than I actually am.

Never tried a passport, but I can't imagine the level of skepticism that would garner.

My stepson's ID does have a hologram-ish thing on it. It's the one that looks like this:

Maybe its to do with familiarity of shape and design?

Passports and Driving licences are pretty standard things, they'll look the same within a country. A driving licence from Mexico is only going to look one way - and a Passport too is pretty universal design country by country.

Military ID's though likely come in a whole range of shapes and designs so the bar-worker has no way to instantly know if its a fake or real design. Plus if they are not familiar with the design it could lead to problems (eg if you can join the military before the legal age to drink).

Driver's licenses in the US can look pretty funky- there are a few with different orientation/layout or just don't look very official that get skeptical looks out of their respective areas.

Passports and Drivers license only here.

There's an ID card available, but most places do not accept it

I used to use my military id, but that is probably because ive looked 50 since I was 6

Is your cousin an immature 17 year old Army Reservist? Why get huffy about this? Get a valid state ID.

That sounds like they should really fix up the military IDs actually.

Well, the id they gave me (civilian contractor) has an RFID chip in it and a hologram and all kinds of cool stuff. It honeslty seems (from my inexperienced examination) much harder to fake than a driver's license or any other kind of non-passport id I am familiar with. I actually have to keep it in a special metal backed carrying sleeve until I need to scan it so nobody can grab the RFID off it when I'm just walking around. Of course, it is also technically government property, just on loan to me, so I'm not allowed to actually take it out in public.

I'm guessing that isn't the kind of ID generally used by military people though.

My GF's son graduated boot a couple months back. While he was crashed out in our hotel room, I took a picture of his ID. Not very clear due to the significant hologram on the surface. My (then) current drivers license would have been easier to fake.

I knew some militia members that had ID badges designed to look like authentic military type. I was told one of them would flash his to recieve discounts and get away with it because people would glance at it and not notice the fact it designated him as a member of a militia instead of the armed forces.

Just got my new one up here in Canuckistan, and I was surprised that they added little holographic stamps over it when you tilt it around. Definitely a step up from the old ones, which were just basic cards. I'm no expert in card forgery, but I don't think the ones up here now would be easily forged, at least any more than a driver's license.

They have all the information you'd need in a piece of photo ID to get you anywhere, but I find it easier and quicker to hand over my driver's license in most situations.

 Blacksails wrote:
They have all the information you'd need in a piece of photo ID to get you anywhere, but I find it easier and quicker to hand over my driver's license in most situations.

I always like to use my concealed carry license and see if people notice. It actually looks more official than my driver's license, because I got the drivers one about a week before I turned 21, so it is oriented vertically and has "under 21 until (some date a couple years ago)" written on it.

I would hate hate hate having a single piece of ID oriented vertically. It would drive me absolutely bonkers.

Its a good idea to easily spot under age drinkers, but it just looks so weird to me.

You can use a military ID to buy alcohol, I'm not sure why anyone thinks you can't.

Now, the person checking could ask you for an alternate ID, but there's nothing saying they have to, and I doubt most people would. Just like a passport. You can buy alcohol with a passport too, but depending on where you're at (that is, if the person carding you has ever seen or knows what a passport is) your chances of being asked for alternate ID might increase or decrease.

As others said, it probably has far more to do with familiarity. Everyone knows what a driver's license looks like because everyone has one, so it is the most accepted form of ID.

As far as how easy it is to fake one? Hard, if you don't "know a guy who knows a guy" who can hook you up, but possibly very easy if you're the guy who does have access to all the necessary materials.

The new IDs are a little harder to fake:

Rusty Trombone wrote:
Is your cousin an immature 17 year old Army Reservist? Why get huffy about this? Get a valid state ID.

50 YR old truck driver who hates imma grants and hates being proved wrong. I guess I never knew the rule of "just let him be right"

 Hordini wrote:
You can use a military ID to buy alcohol, I'm not sure why anyone thinks you can't.

Hordini's correct. Military IDs are still government/state issued IDs and if anyone is denying it as proper ID in the US, they're wrong and most likely doing it because they don't know where to look/glance for the birth date.

My wife has never had an issue buying alcohol, getting into bars, or using her ID for any other situation that calls for a state issued ID. We've actually had to correct DMV employees about it by showing them were it's a valid ID in the very sheet of paper they hand out that lists valid ID types. They actually handed her the sheet saying "These are the only forms we accept" and my wife pointed straight to Military IDs the moment they did.

Depends how new the ID is and the familiarity of the clerk with Military IDs. The older ones (that I've seen) looked like my OHRV permit, which was just laminated cardstock.

It's not unheard of for them to be turned away. Hell, they wouldn't take my NH state ID in half the bars I went into in Massachusetts because of some dippy state ordinance.

 d-usa wrote:
The new IDs are a little harder to fake:

Spoiler:

We have those where I work, but we don't use them as IDs (we have agency-issued credentials for that purpose). We use them to get in and out of the building and to access the computers.

For things like using your CC, or getting Alcohol, or using a Bank's services, the current military ID should be accepted everywhere.

It has all required information: name/picture, birthdate.


As far as how difficult it is to reproduce them illegally... well, I'm sure given enough time it's possible, but very unlikely to be done.


The last military ID that I held (that is to say, my own ID, since now I have a spouse ID card) had my picture (in uniform, as most offices won't deal with you if you're out of uniform, even on leave), the rank, EXP date, the CAC reader chip as well as the digital reader "barcode" thingy on the front. The back has a bunch of other stuff, used at the gym and other places, along with your Geneva Conventions code, with other specialized coding on it. The front was actually covered with a hologramed coating as well, which didn't go fully over my mug, so that someone looking at it could see my face for ID.

It's an argument that I got into with, with a bank teller a few years back, in which i described to her these difficulties in reproducing the ID, then ripped into how "easy" it'd be to fake an Oregon ID, or, because I was in Oregon at the time, to simply fake another state like Wyoming where she'd have no real way of knowing if its real or not







Long and short of it is, in the US "acceptable" ID forms are US issued ID/Driver's license, military/govt employment ID, and Passport. IF you're a foreigner in the US, generally speaking you should be using only your passport or your country issued Passport card (since we do that special deal thing with Canada/Mexico your passport is just a special ID card)

I guess I was wrong here. I guess it is difficult to to produce them illegally.
Still not going to apologize to my cousin

 Hordini wrote:
You can use a military ID to buy alcohol, I'm not sure why anyone thinks you can't.

Because those posters were from UK & Ireland (At least according to their falgs)
UK law states only drivers licenses and passports are valid ID in the UK, it also helps in the UK not having different designs for every regions drivers licenses and a higher rate of owning passports than the US

 Hlaine Larkin mk2 wrote:

 Hordini wrote:
You can use a military ID to buy alcohol, I'm not sure why anyone thinks you can't.

Because those posters were from UK & Ireland (At least according to their falgs)
UK law states only drivers licenses and passports are valid ID in the UK, it also helps in the UK not having different designs for every regions drivers licenses and a higher rate of owning passports than the US

The OP is American and the original question was posed in an American context.

While in Canada, a Mil ID is usable for buying booze and for other ident purposes, I have had cashiers refuse to take my Mil ID and ask for my driver's license or some other different government ID.

I chalk those moments up to the cashier in particular either never seen one, or trained only to accept the most common IDs. gak happens.

Misleading title FTL?

There's no clickbait actually right here on Dakka... is there?

In the Netherlands, only passport or ID cards are actual IDs. Driver's licenses are commonly accepted in lieu, though.

Fun story: A couple of years ago, I was in Texas, and you had to ID yourself before being allowed in a certain bar. Being Dutch and not having a valid US ID card, I wanted to use my passport, but they wouldn't accept it. Lady at the cash register didn't even know what it was. "Yeah, I'm sorry sir, I don't know what this is, but that's not a valid ID."

"Um,, excuse me? That's my passport. That's my only legal ID in the US."

Long story short, I didn't get in, so we went to the movies instead, but whether the ID is actually legal identification doesn't always have much to do with whether it's accepted.