The SAM specification indicates that each read group must have a unique ID field, but does not mark any other field as required. I have also discovered that htsjdk throws exceptions if the sample (SM) field is empty, though there is no indication in the specification that this is required. Are there other read group fields that I should expect to be required by common tools? 
What are the de facto required fields in a SAM/BAM read group?
file formats;sam
The sample tag (i.e. SM) was a mandatory tag in the initial SAM spec (see the .pages file; you need a mac to open it). When transitioned to Latex, this requirement was mysteriously dropped. Picard is conforming to the initial spec. Anyway, the sample tag is important to quite a few tools. I would encourage you to add it.