Stamped Out

Tags of the Future

For many years the military has been trying to figure out a way to have as much information about the soldier as possible in the battlefield.  No one is going to run around with a folder of 8 1/2" x 11" sheets of information, or even index cards.  That leaves the duty up to microfiche or computer based technology.

There are many designs in development.  Two of the most popular are: TacMedCs,  being developed by the Marine Corps; and the Personal Information Carriers (PICs), currently being developed under the aegis of MRMC’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC).

The PIC

Perhaps the most common is the PIC.  Former Army surgeon general Lt. Gen. Ronald Blanck talked about the Military Health System (MHS) and his plans to develop and adopt the PIC from about 1996-2000.  The same time Blanck started to talk about it, Defense secretary William Cohen talked about a "digital dog tag" on CNN.  In 2000 DoD introduced its "identification card of the future"—a common access "based on ‘smart card’ technology that stores and processes information on an integrated microprocessor chip… commanders are evaluating placing individual medical and dental information on the card."

For more information on the PIC, check out Robert Leitch's column on U.S. Medicine.

Tactical Medical Coordination System (TacMedCS)

Information coming soon.

Meditag.

Information coming soon.

Individually Carried Record

Information coming soon.

More dog tag information:
Civil War Tags
Spanish American War Tags
WWI Tags
WWII Tags
Korean Era Tags
Vietnam Era Tags
Current Issue Tags
Tags of the Future?
Medical Warning Tags