On hold...

Gathering info and documentation for renewing my Captain's license.  According to the documentation, I am a merchant mariner and a transportation worker.  To get a Captain's license, you have to have a TWIC card: Transportation Worker Identification Credential.  With this card you can... well... the TWIC has only been required for 5 years now, and I've never had anyone ask to see it (other than verification that I have one for employers).

Going back 5 years, the Coast Guard did their own background checks.  Their own fingerprinting.  With an original license, you have to have 3 references.  Drug test.  Physical.  About 5 years ago is also when the TWIC program was instituted.  So, when I renewed my license last time, I had to go through the Coast Guard's documentation and identification process AND the near duplication of the TWIC process.  Timing.  The premise was the TWIC process was supposed to take the place of the USCG's identification/background check process, leaving the actual licensing to the Coast Guard.

Now that the first mass of TWIC enrollees are coming due to renew that documentation, they have instituted an EED: Extended Expiration Date... all you have to do is give them money.  $60 for a 3 year extention.  Or, start over with the whole process, make two trips to a TWIC center, give them $129.75 and get a card that is good for 5 years.  Do the math.  I called for an extension... and was put on hold for 37 minutes.

Once the mumbling lady on the phone verified it was me (Really?  On the phone?), she collected my credit card information and extracted $60.  No further background check, and only one trip to a TWIC center to pick up the card in person... in 10 days or so.

The TWIC card has a chip embedded in it that has your identification information.  I've been through several Coast Guard inspections.  Not once did they ask for the TWIC card (although I keep it with my license).  One CG inspector told me, "We don't have readers for those things."  The TWIC card is supposed to allow the holder access to secure areas in ports and ships... going in and out of the slip while captaining an excursion boat isn't really considered "a secure area."

After I paid for the TWIC, while visiting with a well-spoken lady from the US Coast Guard National Maritime Center, I found out that after the initial required TWIC, you can request a TWIC exemption... something for transportation workers who don't need to enter secure areas in ports.  I always thought it was ridiculous that people who got an OUPV Captain's license (often referred to as a "Six Pac" license, due to a maximum of 6 passengers) had to have a TWIC card.

I was talking to the nice lady to make sure the documentation I had was current.  The paperwork for the medical stated "Expires 6/30/12" - I didn't want to have my medical rejected because it was on expired paperwork.  She assured me that form was still the one being used.

And speaking of paperwork: the medical documentation used to be a page and a half; now, it is 9 pages long.  I'm so excited.