This year my classmates in license majors and I started the Merchant Mariner Documentation process.  Merchant Mariner Documentation, or MMD, is the Coast Guard’s merchant marine identification and management system, keeping track of all registered merchant mariners in the United States.  It is required to have MMD in order to ship on any commercial vessel in the U.S., so we start the process about 15 months prior to shipping commercially.

We started the process by filling out the initial application, which included the usual pedigree information, as well as questions about personal history (legal issues, etc.) so that the Coast Guard has a record of full disclosure.  Each applicant undergoes a background check, so they want to make sure you’re honest and forthcoming about any issues they may discover in the process.

We’re waiting on the next step right now (I’m not sure when or what that is), but once we reach that I’ll make another post about it.

A few weeks ago I posted about TWIC, the new identification system for mariners from the TSA.  I picked up my TWIC card here at school today. The TSA has come to us to do enrollment and delivery, which has been very convenient as it keeps us from having to travel to get it. This week they’ve been back on campus delivering TWIC cards that have been created and ready for use.

My appointment was at 0945 this morning. I got there right on time, and was able to immediately walk in and sit down with the agent. he pulled out my card from a stack of them being delivered, stuck it in the chip reader, and started the process. He asked for my photo ID, had me enter the 6-8 digit PIN I had selected for my card, and then had me fill out a survey about the TWIC process while we waited for everything to be registered. By 1000 I was out the door and continuing on my way. All in all, my TWIC experience was pretty painless.

A number of other cadets have had experiences not nearly so positive this week, however. I’ve talked to some kids who were there for over an hour between waiting in line and actually working with the agent activating the card. Apparently the TSA’s database system is a tad on the slow, bogged-down side, which means that the transaction between the issuing point and the central database takes a long time. In fact, of the 15 minutes I was in the room, 10 of them were spent waiting for the computer to finish updating the system. One cadet was told that it’s better in the morning, but later in the day when the west coast issuing points start coming online it gets bogged down more. This makes me a little concerned, since this system is intended to be used 24/7 around the country once it’s fully up and running. Hopefully this slowness is being addressed, and will be resolved before the required registration date in April 2009.

On an interesting side note, I asked the agent about how this was going to work on the end-user side - when we come into port and have to present the card to the authorities. He told me that the person checking your TWIC will have a chip reader similar to the one he was using today. He’ll insert your card, which will pull up your profile (including your photo) from the database, so they can verify that your card is not counterfeit. You will then be required to enter the PIN you’ve chosen, and have your right index finger’s print read for identity verification. It certainly sounds like a pretty watertight security measure (excuse the pun). However, it also sounds like a potential source of long lines and big delays. We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out.

Today was the annual Spring Career Fair here at MMA, where dozens of companies come to try and recruit this year’s graduating class, as well as some of the other cadets for internships and cooperatives. There were close to 100 companies represented, from all over the country and the world.

I only stopped and talked with a few companies, since the main focus of this career fair was to help juniors and seniors line up jobs, so underclassmen were a lower priority. I talked to recruiters from the United States Coast Guard, since I plan to do the Reserves, and will be going to boot camp this summer. I also talked to McAllister Towing, where I was told that I might be able to get an internship in Baltimore this summer on a tug. I didn’t even know that internships were offered to freshmen before tonight! I stopped by the American Maritime Officers union booth, and I only talked for a minute with the representative, but I got a sweet Merchant Marine bumper sticker out of it

I had planned to take my camera with me, but in my haste to get out the door after sailing practice to make sure I got there before it closed for underclassmen, I forgot to grab it (I really need to start getting better about bringing it with me more often). Regardless, it was a really good experience, and gave me a sense of what’s available after graduation.