[quote=Capt. Fran;16522]Ah, OK. I didn’t know that NMC is interpreting it to mean Mate license. Huh, interesting, and unfortunately, not in a good way for a 1600 Master.
Thanks for the insight, and it explains some of the things I’ve been hearing from folks with applications at NMC.[/quote]
If I were to draft the policy letter today (I didn’t write the original, but was involved in its development) this is one of several things I’d be more specific on.
The intent of the parts at issue was to allow people to keep what they had with minimal additional training, but to require the training if they wanted to upgrade (assume for now that Master 1600 to 3rd Mate is an “upgrade” the way I just paid extra money to “downgrade” the operating system on my new computer). If you saw any of my many internet postings in late 2001, this is why I was encouraging people to run out and upgrade before 2/1/02.
[I][edited immediately after posting to correct several typos][/I]