This article was in Professional Mariner in late 2007:
[B]Coast Guard plans to hire civilians to boost its troubled Marine Safety role[/B]
and this one from September last year:
[B][U]Coast Guard plans to greatly expand ranks of safety inspectors, casualty investigators[/U][/B]
These all sound very promising but I went to the US Federal Government Jobs website and only found three postings for Marine Inspectors…all of which required you to be in government service already or be a retiree.
Wasn’t that what the whole program of hiring civilian inspectors trying to fix? Bringing in industry experience and knowledge to replace the military focus by USCG uniforms? Wouldn’t replacing active duty inspectors with retirees just perpetuate the status quo?
Is this civilian inspector program really just a way for more Federal Employee triple dipping? Is the USCG really going to hire experienced Marine Safety Inspectors from outside its own turf? Is there any chance for any real change in vessel inspections as was promised?
Questions, questions, questions…