Mike173,
I still do not see it as the same animal; it’s the apples and oranges thing. The fact that they “accepted that” means nada, your time was good cuz you sailed on a 3rd Mates license to get the time for upgrade to 2nd Mate. The C/M title is a side issue, unrelated, IMHO. I mean, are we going to get this discussion to the point of saying that if there a 2 guys in a rowboat, one is the master and the other is the chief mate! 
Cheers!