The Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) maintains the largest archive of personnel, manpower, training, and financial data in the Department of Defense (DoD). The personnel data holdings, in particular, are broad in scope and extend back to the early 1970s to cover all Military Services, all components of the Total Force (active duty, guard, Reserve, civilian), and all phases of the personnel life cycle (accession, separation, retirement). The other data holdings, however, usually are the only single source of commonly coded data on the Military Services. This data supports the management information needs of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (OUSD/P&R), other organizations within Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and many customers both within and outside of the Department. In addition to maintaining large amounts of data, DMDC operates major programs that affect individual members of the Department. These programs affect both active duty and Reserve component military members and their families and civilian employees of the DoD. These programs include developing aptitude tests for entry into the military; conducting personnel surveys; helping ensure access to military medical facilities; managing the military ID card issuance program; helping identify fraud and waste in DoD pay systems; and assisting departing military and DoD civilian members and their spouses to transition back into the civilian sector.

GlobalPlatform Based Solutions: The Common Access Card (CAC) is a Java Card which uses GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.01 and GlobalPlatform Card Specification v2.1 APIs.

GlobalPlatform Implementation Programs: The CAC is a smart card and DoD's standard identification card for active duty military personnel, Selected Reserve, DoD civilian employees, and eligible contractor personnel. The CAC is also the principal card used to enable physical access to buildings and controlled spaces and for logical access to the Department of Defense computer networks and systems.