MMD Discount

cheng you bastard, I sprayed coffee on my desk and spit it out my nose reading your last line.

A bastard? yep, I guess. I was on the 4-8 watch one time and my relief came into the control room and set a cup-a-noodles on the engine room log clipboard. I grabbed it to sign out and spilt the boining water on his crotch. I hope it wasn’t that bad…

I edditted it, mayby punchline wuld be better

So I was reading through this and saw that someone used their MMD card to get discounts on American Airlines…I called them yesterday and they said they don’t do discounts for that. So how did you guys get discounts for airlines??

They did until you called…

Or, take it in a strip club and watch the prices go up.

You think that we don’t work for the government? Fuck that. How many hours did you spend last year keeping all your ducks in a row for Big Brother? The only difference is that we pay through the nose for the privilege. Time was when an MMD would get you on a base and into the PX. Never did it but coulda.
You have <strong>GOT </strong>to be kidding. It would be funny it wasn’t so offensive. There is a reason why they are called <strong>ENLISTMENTS</strong> and <strong>Tours of DUTY</strong>. If a CAC card brings bennies to the Contractor, bonus but <strong>don’t for minute think that yer MMD should confer to you the benefits earned by Active Duty or Retired Military. </strong>
Good news is I spent 22 years of my life to protect your right to think that way and talk that kind of trash and there are others currently serving that will continue to support those rights. Next time you see a Service Member in the airport shake their hand and say Thank-you.

Retired NAVY Chief Petty Officer sends

<img alt="" src=“http://gcaptain.com/maritime/forum/js/FCKeditor/editor/images/smiley/msn/thumbs_up.gif” />

I do know that airlines offer merchant seaman rates, significantly lower than regular fares. But these rates don’t allow the user to accumulate frequent flier miles. I was working in west Africa in the spring of '07, and the client (a large offshore vessel operator) booked my flight from Douala to Lagos. When I showed my boarding pass to get on the plane, the woman looks at it, then at me and says, “Oh, you are a seaman.”. Keerist. Hadn’t sailed on my license in nearly 20 years, and people still can tell, I thought to myself. I found out later on that the fare type on the boarding pass was different.
That said, I have one of the old laminated Z cards. Beat all to hell (got washed one day-cleared customs during the day and left the card in the pocket of my coveralls). I don’t recall ever using it for a discount. I do recall, while at the Academy, using my Naval Reserve ID card to get into Shea at the press gate, though.

It was not my intent to offend, and I apologize to those that I did offend.
Last time I was at the airport, I did indeed shake the hands of several servicemen. I have an enormous amount of respect for the men and women who volunteer for the service. I was an Air Force brat and my father served in Viet Nam flying F-100s. I wore a POW/MIA bracelet for Marjor Glendon Ammon for fifteen years. My point was not that the MMD should be used to get discounts and bennies, I was reacting to the idea that Merchant Mariners don’t work for the government. I didn’t react very well.

That was a classy response, C_A. As an ex-enlisted puke (BM) who served for 8 years in Uncle Sam’s Confused Group (aka Puddle Pirates), and the son of a Korea and Viet Nam vet, I’ll make a further distinction: there’s frontline combat veterans and then there’s everyone else. Risk is relative. Although myself and many of my peers put ourselves in harm’s way on a regular or semi-regular basis, as have countless other servicemen and women, it’s simply not the same as getting shot at or shelled by people deliberately trying to kill you and your brothers / sisters in arms. Sadly, there’s never been a shortage of military personnel who’ve never been anywhere near the real action but who don’t hesitate to shamelessly ride on the coattails of those who have. The truly honorable ones never pretend otherwise.
I don’t think that we merchant mariners should be entitled to any special consideration [B][U]meant for military personnel or veterans[/U][/B] unless and until we’ve faced serious mortal danger from an organized human enemy. With very few exceptions, that hasn’t happened since WW II’s Battle of the Atlantic, and those MM veterans are very rapidly dying off. It’s a real shame that most of them never got any real recognition for their sacrifices while they were still alive.
If some company wants to give me a discount because I help keep the flow of commerce moving, so be it. But it shouldn’t ever get wrapped in the flag.

Well said Capt Jack (from a retired member of the confused group!)