Originally Posted by
greggarious
Wait, so they don't ask people in the military for a military/dod/va card? Something to prove their affiliation? That's not a security risk, but yeah it does open the door for jerks to use precheck.
I mean, TSA has some former military people, but even then they probably only served in one branch so I doubt it's possible for them to know every possible military uniform
No, uniformed travelers are not required to show their military ID to get through security. Many if not most do on their own but it's not a strict requirement. Military and DoD civilians are enrolled in PreCheck through the Defense Travel System (DTS). To get PreCheck on their boarding passes all they have to do is log into DTS and activate the number on the back of their CAC ID card. That way they can, in the case of the military, travel in uniform or in civilian clothes and get PreCheck.
So what about some non-military person who decides to dress up like a soldier to travel in hopes of garnering some benefit? He or she may not have PreCheck of their own or maybe hoping they'll get sorted out by wearing the uniform. They are jerks but catching them is a problem. Heck even well intentioned soldiers make uniform mistakes, it happens frequently.