out of touch much?
This must be a facetious response. Maybe I missed the joke.
The point of this form is to educate and inform.
99% of Americans are out of touch. Asking questions like this is how we learn them up.
He asks valid questions. A security clearance seems to be the golden ticket to the best billets. But no one will give up the secrets of how you can get one.
@john hypothetically. if you went back to sea do you think you’d be able to pickup on whatever operation it was quick and jump into a cm job? Like roro or container, with being away from sailing a while? Or would you rather do a bit as 2 or 3m and observe for a little first? Wonder how the unions would treat c/m’s coming back after being away, or super young c/m’s taking a job on a platform they’ve never been on.
My 2 cents here is it’d likely be tough to jump into a C/M job, especially any kind of high-tempo operation.
With the shipping hall system 2/m is the sweet spot. Depending on how shipping is less competition for 2/m because new grads can only sail 3rd.
So probably a hitch onboard or whatever it might be running 2nd to understand how it all goes. I’m sure it’s different for everyone depending on your background. Some general cargo ships I think you could flow into it, but maybe it would be tougher onboard a roro.
C/M is in charge of the deck department, cargo operations, Security Officer, Safety officer, possibly the medical officer and stands a watch.
One issue is figuring out things like how the stability, inventory, ordering programs work and so forth.
After a trip or two the paperwork is a lot easier but the first go round can be tough.
Especially if you’re also trying to learn the run and the ship.
And definitely depends on how competent / motivated the other mates, captain, and AB’s are. That will make the difference in a lot of cases.
My experience has been 2M is medical on US flag container ships, but your point stands.
In any event the 2M has watch and some ancillary duties including charts and pubs. How much time do they really have to understudy the Mate on all of their duties?
Many government contract vessels require a clearance.
Go to KP, be former military, or have a company really desperate and willing to sponsor you. I’ve heard that AMO is trying to be able to sponsor people as the employer to increase the number of available officers with clearances.
That’s the hard part. Generally you can’t get one “on spec.” It can get circular - no job without clearance, no clearance without job.
Not going to vouch for this being 100% accurate, but it gives a decent overview and roughly aligns with my memory of the process.
Note: keep good records of when you move and you addresses!
Security Clearance Information and Jobs - Top Three Tasks When Applying for a Security Clearance.
The ship I’d feel most comfortable on, tankers, I would not sail CM. Too much at stake. Then again I’ll probably never sail tankers again.
The other ships, well that depends on the temp, captain, crew, etc. In truth, I’d probably do some night mating or try to pick up some short relief hitches before signing on to anything semi-permanent.
After seeing the 18 months of horseshit the Government put my clean as whistle cousin (and his employer) through for a Top Secret clearance, I have no interest in applying for a clearance.
And that’s before we even get into the Government tracking his phone and restricting his travel.
Most, if not all, FOS MSC ships in AMO require a clearance.
That can be tough. I got mine while I was in college as an SSO. Outside of that, you need a company to sponsor you. Best bet would be to contact a company directly and say you’re interested in working for them. If you’re in AMO/MMP already and have to chance to take all the government classes, I would recommend doing that to show them that you’re ready to go otherwise.
When did what become a thing? This has “been a thing” since I started sailing 8 or so years ago.
There’s a drastic difference in getting a secret clearance vs a top secret clearance. Mine took about 8 months and most of that was just waiting for them to process the paperwork.
For CONMARs and CIVMARs it shouldn’t even take two weeks — especially with how quickly they can find out what they want to about you.
It takes that long cause some jerkoff usually leaves paperwork on their desk and forgets about it until prodded by someone to do their job.
Might be a secret for AMO and MMP members because some are probably trying to hold on to or limit the amount competition for those government ship jobs.
But as MEBA mate, it was really easy to get a security clearance. All it took was an email into the company / the guy that handles it in the office, he sent me paperwork back, I sent it back in. Then he let me know I had a security clearance several months later.
The company I was working for at the time sponsored sponsored even junior mates that work for them.
FYI any company that carries any government cargo whether it be containers or rolling stock, want to have mariners with security clearances because it looks better for government contracts/ cargo bidding, etc. So it’s not just government vessels / companies that manage them that give out security clearances.
Clearances are simple for young people who just graduated from the academy last week, and who don’t have an extensive work and life history spread all over the country that the government thinks it needs to investigate.
All it takes is one disgruntled or crazy person (ex-wife, former neighbor, former classmate, former co-worker or supervisor) to insinuate something (right wing Christian extremist, racist, gun nut, pedophile, spousal abuse, sexual harassment, etc. etc.) to derail a security clearance for months or years.
A great many people are rejected for clearances over minor credit problems. Many millions of Americans, and many thousands of mariners had credit problems after the 2008 financial collapse and Great Recession. State and Federal tax problems are even worse. Mariners are highly taxed and many , if not most, get a little too cute on their taxes.
There must be books and YouTube videos about how to get a security clearance. Probably there are clearance consultants too.
They ask for the last 10 years worth of information, if I remember correctly. The government investigates whatever they deem necessary. Like previous people have said, it took several months. Your experience being secondhand and through someone trying to get a Top Secret Clearance is far different.
This is why they investigate and they send a rep to contact you and discuss what the issue is or was. I had to meet with a rep over a prior arrest.
What amount is a great many? Do you know “a great many” that were denied? What constitutes a minor credit problem in the eyes of someone vetting people for secret clearances?
It’s not as complicated or intrusive as your one vicarious experience was.
Allegedly, AMO is working on sponspring clearences through the union at their new MSC training facility at the star center. The Idea is that it would make it easier to change companies and maintain a clearance if you want to jump ship from your orignal sponsor, because how I understand the process, if Company A gets me a clearance, I cant take it to company B, or there is an administrative hand off that would need to happen, and its a pain in the ass for all involved. Its not a secret how to get one, and half the jobs on the board are there because you need a clearance and they cant find you a relief.