Sir Im afraid you can not see the forest through the trees.
Not everything is for you. The United States of America is a big country, with a lot of ports, with a lot of different security needs. Presumably, if you dont understand how an overhead without little peices of paper jammed in the cracks is going to keep you up at night, you might not get any of this it, because you’re probably not on a ship that goes anywhere, and I understand security isnt exactly tight on those types of vessels anyway.
But for profesional mariners who need to access real terminals, some delta farce asshole usualy will treat us like a terrorist if we don’t have a twic- sometimes even when we do have a twic. And to their credit, I would rather we dont let random people arround very explosive, very important infastructure based on vibes.
But to break it down barny style for you, The TWIC is already cemented in the system in ways that you and I do not fully understand. And thats okay, we just make the ships go places, we are not security experts. If you’ve ever used two part paint before, the TWIC is the part B mixed into the part A, you cant un-mix the two part paint. Praying the goverment will make it go away is not going to do anything. It would likely cost more money to overhaul the system than to keep it running, and its really not causing any problems, other than annoying you.
Its the low hanging fruit, imagine how dumb it would for an incident to happen that would have been prevented by a TWIC card. Its not that a terrorist can’t get a twic, its that some random crazy guy at the gate claiming to be an HVAC technician cant be let in unescorted, only to cut all the mooring lines because God told him to.
Just like how the deadbolt on your door won’t really stop someone motivated with the right tools from getting in your house, but youre going to look really silly if the door is just open.
If a deadbolt stops a guy from getting in my house at 3 in the morning but he waves a TWIC at me from the peep hole I’m still not letting him in. If a random low hanging fruit crazy homeless person shows up at the gates of a terminal with a twic card, no on at the gate is going to let them in just because they have a twic card. I don’t know what type of US ports you’re entering but a TWIC card ain’t no magic wand. 16 years ago when I was working on ATB’S northeast stateside, places weren’t letting mariners in their ports if they weren’t on the crew list carrying a TWIC card or not. I’d lick my elbow if anyone can show me any evidence of an act of terrorism or sabotage was ever prevented because of TWIC inspections. It’s all a made up Patriot Act MIL money making scam imo. If a terrorist is going through the trouble of hijacking a truck or dressing up like an HVAC tech & falsifying manifests & work orders they’ll spend the dough & time to get a TWIC. It’s going 18 years, just one instance of terrorism prevention please?
if you dont understand how an overhead without little peices of paper jammed in the cracks is going to keep you up at night, you might not get any of this
First, I’m not on a ship I’m on a tug boat. And yes, we have little pieces of paper and foam ear plugs and whatever else we can find in the chart table jammed into the seams of the overhead panels. Trying to find, and silence all the little creaks and groans is a well known tradition on tugboats.
Working on an escort / assist tug we frequently access marine terminals, container yards and refinery docks. We assist big ships into and out of marine terminals with cargos that go boom. Security in these places is important, and I’m not arguing that we throw open the gates and let anyone just wander in off the streets. What I am arguing is that somehow we managed to keep bad actors out of secure port facilities before the TWIC program, and we can continue to do so without it. I’ll give you two examples from my own experience:
One one occasion I was invited by a civilian captain who operated tugs for the Navy in Everett to come on the base and tour his shiny new tractor tug. When asked for ID at the gate, I presented my TWIC card to the MP. He said “we can’t accept that, do you have a driver’s license?” This gentleman would not accept my Federally issued photo ID even with all its biometric bells and whistles. Nope, he would rather check my state drivers license- an ID that was soon to be no good for getting thru airport security because it was deemed not to have the requisite security features. My state driver’s license was good enough however to grant me access to the Navy base where a nuclear aircraft carrier was moored to the pier.
At the time I was working on assist tugs in the port of Everett, where security was tight and you couldn’t even think about going thru the gate unless you were prominently displaying your TWIC card on a lanyard…that is unless you were a foreign national on shore leave from one of the ships in port. Once or twice I forgot my TWIC card and had to be escorted by another crewmember to get to our boat. But countless times I witnessed the foreign crews walking from their gangway thru the terminal to the gate where a van was waiting to take them shopping in town. No escort, no TWIC, no problems.
So you see @Meme.Lord the TWIC program is doing more than annoying me, it is costing the taxpayers billions of dollars, and reading through the comments in this thread it seems the most useful thing we are getting for all that money is TWIC holders being able to use the pre check line at the airport. Suggesting that it would “likely” cost more money to overhaul the system is nothing more than subterfuge, unless you are an expert in government contracts the same way you are in two part paint? Maybe its not causing any problems, but its also not fixing any either.
TWIC works. I was at a terminal on the infamous Miami River when a brand new Escalade [dealer stickers still on it] came to the gate and got escorted by a TWIC holder straight into a container bound for the Caribbean. Paperwork was green
I haven’t seen this “countless” times but I’ve seen it enough while doing spot jobs delivering OSV’s back to the states to know how it works. The ships agent has to get all their names, passport info & vouch for the international mariners to go back & forth through the gate. Good for them, I have nothing against foreign seamen who want to shop in the US. But it does show how stupid the TWIC program is. Nearly any mariner from anywhere in the world can get off the ship to go shopping & US born mariners can’t even get a mariners document unless they get a TWIC card that supposedly prevents terrorism? I’m having a hard time believing any American mariner thinks the TWIC program works & is worth it. It’s a MIL money making scheme & nothing else imo.
It is heavily used to access different docks in Port Fourchon. Although I don’t think it is a reading machine, it’s a human looking at your TWIC on both side through a camera. Also when we worked out of Galveston a human inspected the card, no readers.
What would I suggest is that the USCG bring back the Z-Card and have a QR code like our current licenses have. In that Z-Card have the TWIC chip integrated to it. For the truckers and others that use the docks thru land have it part of their CDL or driver’s license. That way making it more efficient.
If they really wanted to be even more efficient, I’m using Florida as an example, you can add your hunting and boating license in your driver’s license. That way having all agencies talking to each other and just having one card for everything.
I agree what DOGE is doing, although it is a bumpy road, but we couldn’t go forever in the debt train.
How do you expect this to be tracked? What documentation is generated when nothing happnes? How many times has the 25 mph school zone speed limit saved the life of a elementary school student? How many public health outbreaks have health inspectors shutting down taco stands prevented?
What I can tell you is 50,000 between 2007 and 2013 were denied a twic because they did not reach the security standards. In 2010 ELIAZAR SANCHEZ CASTRO was arrested for attempting to enter Port Fuchan with a fake TWIC card.
Was it a driverless van? Its regularly a pain to get a driver into the port, because drivers need TWIC cards. But yeah youre literally describing the twic escort system. Plenty of ports will have port security themselves drive you to the gate. Thats how that works, these folks arent being left to their own devices to wander freely in the port.
Its a layerd approach to security. Today you would need a realID or passport to get visitor access to a military base. Everyones got a system for what they need, even look at port facilities like Port Ev, you can only use a DL to get in the gate, because they need to get 40k people in and out of the port on any given day. But you do need a twic and an MMC to access some port areas.
But they key is its a standardized ID. Underage college kids trying to drink have this pretty well figured out, if you want your fake ID to work, get an out of state fake because the bouncer in some bar in california is less likely to know what a Connecticut ID feels like than a the CA DL they see every day.
If everyone has to present the same card at every port, it just makes sense. Its far from perfect but you have to start somewhere.
me no smart like rustee… if we can no longer agree TWIC is a colossal scam started by m.i.l giant Lockheed Martin to fleece American mariners/tax payers on the heels of 9/11 fears & patriot act power grab then at least can agree with that?
I didn’t coin the phrase nor was I the one who first associated the Patriot Act & the term “power grab”. Any disputes with that terminology & you should take it up with folks a lot smarter than me… Why I consider it a power grab is because it only restricts & controls American mariners, dock workers & truck drivers who want to work to provide for their families. Nearly any ship from any country can sail into Bayonne, NJ & their foriegn crews with no background checks get a loop hole to come & go as they please. But if a dumb American gets busted as a teen with weed in the car they could possibly be denied a TWIC & the right to work in the transportation industry because they are a threat to national security? WTF? Yea, I call that a power grab & too controlling.
Furthermore, it’s baffling to me that a national ID to enter ports, something no other country has is a great idea while most other countries have national ID’s to vote & that is considered racist, gerrymandering or too controlling. Folks are very inconsistent in their federal ID ideologies imo.
You ever met anyone who reported their fuck up the way you’re supposed to and not been issued a TWIC or MMC? I’ve sailed with guys who spent YEARS in prison and have MMC, TWIC, secret clearance, and are allowed to carry a weapon. I have a criminal record and had no issue getting any of the above. Following directions is pretty paramount in this industry, and if you can’t follow directions on reporting then maybe this isn’t the right career path for you.
I am in favor of there being ONE combo biometric RFID card that includes, and/or replaces:
FEDERAL Driver’s License (no need for a state drivers license if you have one).
Voter ID Card
Passport Card
Global Entry
FAST Card
TSA Pre-check
TWIC Card
Z-Card
And probably a dozen other things that I didn’t think of.
Not everyone would qualify for this combo card, or they might qualify for the card, but only some people would qualify for certain authorizations.
I think the Global Entry Card has the highest security screening standards.
Last I heard, recent immigrants get a TWIC Card with no background check of foreign records. Not much security in that.
I was asked today to present a different ID than my TWIC going through TSA “in order to ensure that I had PreCheck.” I had precheck on my ticket because I entered the number on the TWIC into the known traveler number box when checking in…
I’m all for a single unifying document but I’m not holding my breath.
