TWIC vs TSA

Professional Mariner Forum
1

Hello, new to the site, which I’d found this site a while ago!

I sailed for a number of years as a 2nd and 3rd mate, then came ashore. Working in a career that is close enough related to the industry that I needed a TWIC. Got it without incident this fall in the St Louis MO area. Today I flew home from St Louis to the Northeast to spend christmas with my mother. I was told that the TWIC was an authorized ID for airport security check points, so I figured I’d try it. FAIL. Lady checking ID’s/boarding passes flat out didn’t know what it was. “Is this a federally issued ID?” “Yes, by your agency” “Well, I need to see your drivers license.” Not rude, just apparently oblivious.

Anybody else have any similar experience? comments?

2

There’s a whole thread on here somewhere dealing with this happening (or not), I for one have used my TWIC about six times at airports and never once got any question from the TSA flunkies. Lucky me.
Welcome to the forum, by the way!

3

Just for the heck of it I’ve tried using my TWIC at some airports. At New Orleans, no problem, Houston, LA, NY, the ID person will on occasion call someone over to say my TWIC’s OK, that is if I don’t mind holding up the line. I finally decided I was being silly. After all, if I all was wanting to do was to make a point or educate the TSA in all the approved IDs they were supposed to accept why hadn’t I been whipping out my MMD the last few years since ‘security’ became a big issue? Therefore now I just show them a driver’s license any fool or felon can get, everyone feels more secure/safe and no one gets confused, plus I don’t hold up the line.

4

I think you mean 'security theater" and not “security”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater

5

Do you really expect anything else? I certainly don’t…not until the airlines and railroads fall under the TWIC regs…and they will be next. We haven’t even got to the mandantory carriage date of the TWIC yet. Why complain about something that’s not yet required. I’ll join the bandwagon after that date. The Z-Card never done me any favors outside of a vessel in 16 years.

6

This is from my friend who is a TSA Supervisor at a Major airport; I asked him if he knew what a TWIC was…
“Yeah, I know what a TWIC is.
<div> I don’t normally check tickets/ID’s but am called upon often to judge if an ID is true or not. Assholes use false ID’s for a variety of reasons.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The average TSA ‘flunkie’ has never seen a TWIC and the only reason I even know about it is because I still hold a CDL. So with that said when some very important jerk-off wants to show his TWIC it likely will be recognized based on his attitude.” </div>

7

JDay, I like the “security theater” Every merchant mariner has been an unwilling actor in that drama.

Jeffrox, I get your point, that often an obscure fake ID may be easier to pass off than a common one. And I do believe attitude is as important as fact in assessing security risk. As soon as I handed it to her, I could tell by the look on her face it was a no go. But as tengineer was commenting on, you would think they would happier to see an ID not every manjack can get. again, see “security theater.” DL’s are jokes as far as secure ID these days.

8

The whole idea behind the TWIC is the card reader, then all you need is a guy with a gun if you fail the “screen”.
It’s impossible for someone to have your card AND your secret PIN too, why if that could happen then people would be losing money from ATM’s and credit card fraud everyday.
It might even lead to some kind of identity theft problem. My government is WAY to smart for that to happen.

9

seadog: The TWIC is almost the exact same thing as the CAC card that you get when you work for the military. I’ve never once used my CAC for anything but to show at the gate or to login to the computer network. I wouldn’t be surprised if the TWIC ends up only being used as a visual ID to get into ports.

10

TWIC still lost since March computer malfunctions. told to hold on it will come.

11

Just picked up my TWIC today!! It was paid for on 07MAR08 and will expire on 06APR13, 5 years from the date of approval. So I killed 10 months of it’s life span while it was processed and sat at the TWIC office. So my TWIC is really only good for 4 years and 2 months - I should get a discount!!

I’m not going to show it to any security-types unless asked just to see how long total I could have lived without this waste of plastic.

The office I went to was near the Port of Tacoma; it looked as if most of the guys waiting were truckers, there was a lot of static in the air about “I’ve got a US Military CAC Card, why aint that good enough?”, " I only come here once or twice a year - you mean I have to come to this office to pick it up!?" (BTW I flew from the Philippines to pick mine up!), “can I come back on a better day - I’ve already missed 5 hours of work, I gotta get back!?”

The receptionist was smokin’ hot but, looking down her ample cleevage for 10 minutes wasn’t worth $132.50:p

12

[quote=Jeffrox;7797]Just picked up my TWIC today!! It was paid for on 07MAR08 and will expire on 06APR13, 5 years from the date of approval. So I killed 10 months of it’s life span while it was processed and sat at the TWIC office. So my TWIC is really only good for 4 years and 10 months - I should get a discount!!

I’m not going to show it to any security-types unless asked just to see how long total I could have lived without this waste of plastic.

The office I went to was near the Port of Tacoma; it looked as if most of the guys waiting were truckers, there was a lot of static in the air about “I’ve got a US Military CAC Card, why aint that good enough?”, " I only come here once or twice a year - you mean I have to come to this office to pick it up!?" (BTW I flew from the Philippines to pick mine up!), “can I come back on a better day - I’ve already missed 5 hours of work, I gotta get back!?”

The receptionist was smokin’ hot but, looking down her ample cleevage for 10 minutes wasn’t worth $132.50:p[/quote]

I’m sure there is a credit card commercial in there somewhere!

13

[quote=Jeffrox;7797]Just picked up my TWIC today!! It was paid for on 07MAR08 and will expire on 06APR13, 5 years from the date of approval. So I killed 10 months of it’s life span while it was processed and sat at the TWIC office. So my TWIC is really only good for 4 years and 10 months - I should get a discount!!

I’m not going to show it to any security-types unless asked just to see how long total I could have lived without this waste of plastic.

The office I went to was near the Port of Tacoma; it looked as if most of the guys waiting were truckers, there was a lot of static in the air about “I’ve got a US Military CAC Card, why aint that good enough?”, " I only come here once or twice a year - you mean I have to come to this office to pick it up!?" (BTW I flew from the Philippines to pick mine up!), “can I come back on a better day - I’ve already missed 5 hours of work, I gotta get back!?”

The receptionist was smokin’ hot but, looking down her ample cleevage for 10 minutes wasn’t worth $132.50:p[/quote]

Maybe looking down for 5 hours would be worth it? lolol. I mean must beat staring at… vending machines, wall clocks, coffee machines…

Yeah, not surprised with the TWIC issues.

I FINALLY am going to pick up my TWIC monday.

Apparently when I first called to schedule the appointment, they couldnt find my enrollment.

The center I enrolled at had the card at the desk!!!

However, the lady wouldn’t have it.

I called again later, and the guy asked me if my birthplace was two words or one, and I told him one. Then 5 seconds later he found my enrollment!!!

I have yet to find anywhere a positive reason to have a TWIC. Maybe for people in other industries that are related to or support the ports, thats it.

14

I just got my card through Key West, sorry that’s ‘Port of Key West’.

By their ideas of who needs one, every one the the town will need a Twic card, because of the cruise ships that come through.

In the Keys, you cannot swing a dead cat without hitting two licensed captains. And they want every one of them to have a card. Along with the cab drivers who pick up tourons on the docks, and all delivery people. In a town where every street end is a dock, where are they going to set up a/the check points? This is government waste at the peak of the ‘Peter Principal’, and we are paying the frieght.

If the office staff is not getting a ‘per card fee’ I will be surprised.

I know this is a bit of a rant, sorry. I come to the Gcaptain site to keep up on the happenings in the real world, I appreciate the resource.

15

After waiting 11 mos. for my TWIC and unable to ever find out anything, the Nat’l Mariners Assoc., faxed Hmeland Sec. my prob. Within 12 hrs of that fax, Homeland called me and apologised. They admitted the last 8 mos. of back and forth paperwork i’ve been sending them was unnecessary. I faxed them yesterday 30 pages, which is all the paperwork and letters we’ve been sending back and forth over 11 months. Hopefully, now i can get things moving and receive my TWIC soon, and with that TWIC i can send a copy to the Coast Guard and get my 200 ton inland license, for it has been on the Coast Guards desk since June when i finished school. For all those with TWIC probs i suggest call Richard Block with the Nat’l Mariners Assoc. at (985)851-2134.

16

The Fort Lauderdale Convention Center is in Port Everglades (genius!). I went to an event there this weekend, and had to show ID to get into the port. Tried to use my TWIC. Failed! They don’t take the TWIC at the Port Everglades gate. Had to show my drivers license, which every illegal alien in South Florida has. Go figure.

17

After almost a year of no hassles use of a TWIC for airport ID, those well trained granny gropers who couldn’t find work at the car wash wouldn’t accept it at Fort Lauderdale a week ago. It seems the TWIC is no longer shown on their list of approved government issued photo IDs. The guardian who wanted a driver’s license would not even turn the card over to read who issued it and seemed to think I was some kind of terrorist because I said I wouldn’t show him anything else and demanded he get a supervisor to find out why the TWIC isn’t good enough anymore.

The second supervisor finally admitted that he also has a TWIC and allowed me to enter the zone where only TSA vetted citizens are allowed to roam.

Tell me again what we paid all that money for.

18

Tell me again what we paid all that money for.

To make a congress man from Kentucky rich.

19

If TWIC actually makes us safer, I am all for it. If on the other hand it gives a false sense of security, well that could be far worse than before.

As an example: When I went to pick up my TWIC in Seattle, I had to wait a while for the bus back downtown. While I waited I watched dozens, perhaps 50 or more trucks pass by me going to or from the Port of Seattle and the intermodal rail yards. How many of those truckers were Somali or from another Muslim country, I am not sure but it seemed that the majority were.

So a Somali with a CDL with HazMat and a TWIC is allowed access to “secure” port and transportation facilities in the US. I bet they were only checked against the NCIC list. Kinda hard to check on a list from Somalia of any suspected terrorists since the country has no functioning government. And hey, the US State Dept. gave them all visas to be here legally.

Or how about the time at the Minneapolis airport. I got “selected” for special attention? And the TSA screener was a, yep, you guessed it, a Somali. I really wanted to make a smart @$$ comment but I might have missed my flight.

That to me is the main concern of the TWIC program. Are folks actually checked against all the data bases of known and suspected terrorists? CIA, Interpol, Mossad, US State Dept. as well as the FBI’s NCIC? I seriously doubt it.

So did I pay $132.50 to actually make our transportation infrastructure safer?

20

As for using TWIC at airports, at first it was not accepted but lately I have had no issues using a TWIC from the TSA.

And on the subject of secure ID, how long will it be till we get national ID?

I know there was some serious talk about taking the Social Security Card (as low-tech as you can get) and making it into a high-tech national ID card (I am all for that, BTW).