Of course military service has inherent personal safety risks—that’s what makes enlistment so noble. But the risk of identity theft is something 131,000 current and former Army National Guards soldiers will be considering very seriously.

The Army National Guard announced this week that a contractor’s laptop containing the soldiers’ personal information was stolen July 27. The contractor was involved in the Army National Guard Bonus and Incentives Program.

The compromised information included program participants’ names, Social Security numbers, payment amounts and payment dates.

Guard officials are in the process of notifying the affected soldiers by mailed letters, said Randy Noller, a spokesman for the National Guard Bureau. Notification will be completed by next week, Noller added.

National Guard officials are recommending all soldiers enrolled in the Bonus and Incentives Program immediately take steps to protect their identities. The most commonly recommended ID theft prevention practices are checking credit reports and placing fraud alerts.

All consumers should be familiar with the signs of identity theft, including mail or bills that aren’t received on schedule—identity thieves commonly submit address changes to divert their victims’ mail.

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