Marine Corps Sets 2027 Deadline to Retire It

Every Marine who has checked into a new unit knows the drill. Before you get a network account, you fill out a DD Form 2875, print it or route it as a PDF, and then go hunting for signatures. That hunt is about to end.

The Marine Corps has ordered the paper and PDF versions of the form retired by Sept. 30, 2027, according to MARADMIN 541/26, released Oct. 30 by the Deputy Commandant for Information.

The message directs every Marine Corps functional area manager, program manager and system owner on the unclassified NIPRNET to move access requests into an automated workflow run by Naval Identity Services, or NIS, and stop using the manual DD 2875 process by the deadline.

What the DD 2875 Actually Is

The DD Form 2875 is the System Authorization Access Request, or SAAR. It is the form that stands between a service member and nearly every military computer system, from a unit’s shared drive to pay and logistics programs.

The form moves in a chain:

1. The user fills out the first part and certifies required cybersecurity awareness training.
2. A supervisor signs off that the user has a need to know.
3. A security manager verifies the user’s background investigation and clearance.
4. Depending on the system, an information owner or cybersecurity officer adds another approval.
5. An administrator creates the account.

Each of those steps needs a different person, and those people are rarely in the same building. A missing training date, an expired certificate or the wrong signature block sends the form back to the start.

Marines who change duty stations or need access to a new system go through the same cycle again.

The Marine Corps has been fighting with the form for a long time. In 2010, MARADMIN 068/10 ordered Marines onto the then-new August 2009 version, which allowed digital signatures, but told commands that hard copies with handwritten signatures were still acceptable.

Federal News Network reported in February that the DD 2875 is one of the Pentagon’s most widely used paper forms, and one of the most often submitted incorrectly.

What Replaces It

NIS is the Department of the Navy’s enterprise identity, credential and access management service, known as ICAM. The department formally designated it an enterprise IT service in May 2024.

At the time, Navy officials said it would replace “the need for multiple duplicative SAARs with a unified, automated workflow that reuses authoritative data.”

In practice, that means the system pulls information the department already has, such as a user’s identity, role, clearance and training records, instead of asking a Marine to type it onto a form and walk it around.

“NIS enables a better customer experience by removing pain points everyone has felt with getting and using access to applications,” Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer Jane Rathbun said at the time.

The push comes from the top. A December 2025 memo from the Pentagon’s chief information officer’s office ordered every component to replace the DD 2875 with automated ICAM workflows.

The Pentagon CIO’s office says the new process will grant access in hours instead of weeks, revoke access as soon as a person leaves and create a permanent audit trail of every access decision.

The Navy set its own deadlines in ALNAV 037/26 in July. System owners had to register with NIS and start onboarding by Aug. 15, and systems already on NIS had to start using the automated workflow by Sept. 30.

After Sept. 30, 2027, using the DD 2875 will be “unauthorized across all DON commands, networks, applications, or systems without an approved waiver,” the ALNAV states. The Marine Corps message simply enforces the same date.

The Army is already further along. Its policy no longer accepts PDF versions of the DD 2875 for access to Army systems on either NIPRNET or SIPRNET, according to Federal News Network.

The Army has been working on other access bottlenecks as well, including months-long software delays. Military.com has also reported on the Pentagon’s new login system for some public-facing websites, part of the same overarching identity overhaul.

What Changes for Marines

For most Marines, the change will show up the next time they need a new account. Instead of printing a form (or emailing the same form multiple times), they will submit a request in the system, and the approvals will route to the right people automatically.

The approvals will also stay on record instead of disappearing. A September MARADMIN that moved the Defense Agencies Initiative financial system to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s version of automated SAARs offers a preview.

Under MARADMIN 453/26: supervisors still validate need-to-know; security managers still annotate clearance status; information owners still check training certificates.

Supervisors and information owners have 21 days to act on requests, and supervisors must immediately revoke access for Marines who PCS, separate or no longer need it.

While this updated process will, no doubt, be warmly received, some challenges remain. The Navy guidance covers only unclassified networks, and the ALNAV says “future guidance will address” the classified SIPRNET.

Systems that cannot meet the deadline can request waivers through the Department of the Navy CIO, and the ALNAV specifically flags shipboard and facility control systems as likely candidates.

The real test will come at the next check-in. If a Marine reporting to a new unit can get on the network in a day without walking, or emailing, a form from office to office, the change will have done its job.

If the request still sits in a supervisor’s queue for three weeks, well, Marines will notice that too.