Just got an email from the secretary at the school. This might apply to a lot of people. Thought I would pass it along! Here is the limited information I have.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE TO BE SURE YOUR TWIC IS VALID.
Yep, big problem. Here’s the story:
To - Members, Vessel Personnel & Safety and Vessel Security Committees:
Bad news on the TWIC front. Back in October, there was a power failure
and the computers that store TWIC information were affected. TWIC cards
that were issued before October 21 of last year may be invalid now.
The Transportation Security Agency is going to contact card holders, but
you can initiate the process yourself. Here’s the steps:
Call 866-347-8942.
When the prompts begin, press 3. When you get to that menu, press 2.
That will get you in touch with a real live person.
Tell them you are checking on the status of your TWIC. They will need
the following information:
Name
Date of Birth
Telephone Number
Location of TWIC Center where you got your card.
It did not take terribly long to do this. You will be notified when
your new card is ready. You must return your old card. There is no fee
as long as you return your old card. If you do not have it, you will be
charged the lost card fee - $60.
[quote=Siberfire;8918]Just got an email from the secretary at the school. This might apply to a lot of people. Thought I would pass it along! Here is the limited information I have.
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE TO BE SURE YOUR TWIC IS VALID.
Yep, big problem. Here’s the story:
To - Members, Vessel Personnel & Safety and Vessel Security Committees:
Bad news on the TWIC front. Back in October, there was a power failure
and the computers that store TWIC information were affected. TWIC cards
that were issued before October 21 of last year may be invalid now.
The Transportation Security Agency is going to contact card holders, but
you can initiate the process yourself. Here’s the steps:
Call 866-347-8942.
When the prompts begin, press 3. When you get to that menu, press 2.
That will get you in touch with a real live person.
Tell them you are checking on the status of your TWIC. They will need
the following information:
Name
Date of Birth
Telephone Number
Location of TWIC Center where you got your card.
It did not take terribly long to do this. You will be notified when
your new card is ready. You must return your old card. There is no fee
as long as you return your old card. If you do not have it, you will be
charged the lost card fee - $60.[/quote]
But if you know your PIN you are okay. At least that is what I gather from the article. Good thing I got my this year, then.
Whoa slow down kids. It seems that they do not have the ability to reset your pin in case you forgot it. From what I can tell it’s only a problem if you forget your pin. Of course it may not be easy to remember with all the pins, passwords, usernames, encryption keys, personal id questions, retinal scans, finger prints, DNA, sperm samples, urinalysis, key words, tricky phrases, back door handshakes, front door speak-easys, and signatures.
I just got off the phone with the TWIC “Help Desk”. The nice lady told me thay my TWIC, issued last April, was invalid and they would notify me when my new card wad ready. All I have to do is drive five hours to Victoria, Texas to pick it up and then five hours back home.
What a steaming pile of shit this is! It’s no wonder our economy and our country are plunging like the Hindenburg! Did we issue TWICs to a bunch of terrorists before October 21st and now realize that we need a “do-over”? Have the people who were issued TWICs before October 21st been denied access to anything in the interim??
As much as I’d like to support anything associated with the security and prosperity of ths country, I’m having a hard time with some of the recent “policies and procedures”. All we’re doing is treading water and building a bigger boondoggle.
I back up my little laptop as protection against power failure. Homeland Security and TSA don’t?
Black helicopters and guys in dark suits, earbuds and sunglasses are probably on the way to my house right now.:eek:
Ok maybe I was too optimistic. So does this mean we have to go back to the original office that it was issued from to get our replacement? Cuz that would be thoroughly awesome.
I just got off the phone with the “Help Desk”, and after 4 minutes, everything was done. With the exception of now having to go and pick a new card up when it’s ready, the whole process was pretty painless.
Apparently, all the PIN data, as well as the data downloaded to the “chip” on the card was lost if you received your card prior to October 21st, 2008.
My TWIC was ready last summer but I didn’t pick it up until last month. So I guess I’m ok but I’ll call anyway - one more thing is I just realized I don’t remember my PIN, getting old sucks… What did they say about formatting the PIN? How many character? (Letters and Numbers or special characters, caps or lower case, etc??) Maybe I can figure it out…
I went to the link posted in the first comment and read this:
“Persons who received TWIC cards after Oct. 21, 2008, and who need to reset their PIN must bring their credential to an enrollment center. PIN resets are being prioritized based on compliance grouping, with workers approaching compliance dates receiving the highest priority, the agency said”
“Some misspelled words and other problems with the cards clued officers that they were fake.”
“It was a pretty good duplication,” Callais said. “Only with the trained eye would you see there were some differences between that and a regular TWIC.”
So, I guess spotting a misspelled word on a TWIC card may or may not be grounds for it being invalid? Or does the TWIC verification training include spelling of common words.
[quote=cmakin;9085]“Some misspelled words and other problems with the cards clued officers that they were fake.”
“It was a pretty good duplication,” Callais said. “Only with the trained eye would you see there were some differences between that and a regular TWIC.”
So, I guess spotting a misspelled word on a TWIC card may or may not be grounds for it being invalid? Or does the TWIC verification training include spelling of common words.[/quote]
Just got an update on the TWIC deal going on. Sound like another case of mass confusion.
To - Members, Vessel Personnel & Safety and Vessel Security Committees:
The U.S. Coast Guard (D9) has advised us TWIC cards issued before
10/21/08 are not invalid. Per Captain Thomas:
“The TWIC POCs have got your e-mail. Apparently the confusion stems
from the TSA Help Desk. Pre- 21 OCT 2008 TWICs will only need to be
re-issued if the holder has forgotten the PIN and it has to be reset.
Even so, this will only become an issue when the readers are in
place…that could be quite a while.”
I am sorry for all the confusion, but quite frankly TSA has not done a
good job of explaining the issue to its own employees, hence the
differing stories from Help Desk staff. Mark Bobal and I got the “Your
card is invalid story.” The person never even mentioned the PIN issue
to me. Some cadets at GLMA who called got "What are you talking about?"
An LCA member got “We can’t tell if your card is any good.”
I anticipate a recap of the TWIC situation at Marine Community Day in
Cleveland this week and will forward all pertinent info.
I went into the Tacoma TWIC office to get/reset my PIN, I waited for a 10 mins and then they let me give it a try -BINGO! I did remember it. The Tacoma office seems to service Lots of Truckers, being there always gives my ego a boost as I always feel slim and trim when I’m with that crowd, (and I’m 290)!:rolleyes:
p.s. the smokin’ hot receptionist with the ample cleevage was absent today:(
[quote=Jeffrox;9124]I went into the Tacoma TWIC office to get/reset my PIN, I waited for a 10 mins and then they let me give it a try -BINGO! I did remember it. The Tacoma office seems to service Lots of Truckers, being there always gives my ego a boost as I always feel slim and trim when I’m with that crowd, (and I’m 290)!:rolleyes:
p.s. the smokin’ hot receptionist with the ample cleevage was absent today:([/quote]
That reminds me of something. A few years back, I was getting ready to fly offshore for some surveys. I was down at PHI in Galveston, and they were working out a bunch of helicopters for crew change. As the dispatcher was calling out names, I heard something like this, “We got room for one small guy on this next flight. Boudreaux, 190, get on it.” Only in the offshore business would someone weighing 190 be a small guy.
Oh, yeah, and the ample cleavage may be a TWIC receptionist requirement. The one in Houston was, uh, likewise equipped.
[quote=cmakin;9146]
Oh, yeah, and the ample cleavage may be a TWIC receptionist requirement. The one in Houston was, uh, likewise equipped.[/quote]
God bless them office gals who love to show their stuff to all the guys they deal with…must be quite a rush for them to be lusted after hundreds of times a day! I remember the receptionist at an offshore company who’s name and location shall not be disclosed here having a dark haired beauty at the front desk who was knockout drop dead gorgeous and even though you’d be sent away without getting in to talk to anybody, just the minute spent gazing at her and her assets was well worth the visit.
Can you imagine the roles being reversed? Kinda like being the reverse of a maritime academy. Going to a fashion school or something where you are about the only guy in the midst of hundreds of babes!
Oh well… only hazy dreams for an old fart like me about daze long gone by
[quote=Jeffrox;9124]I went into the Tacoma TWIC office to get/reset my PIN, I waited for a 10 mins and then they let me give it a try -BINGO! I did remember it. The Tacoma office seems to service Lots of Truckers, being there always gives my ego a boost as I always feel slim and trim when I’m with that crowd, (and I’m 290)!:rolleyes:
p.s. the smokin’ hot receptionist with the ample cleevage was absent today:([/quote]
HAH!! Easy on us poor truckers, Jeff…We are just under paid and over fed !@
