You may be transitioning from the Navy in 3 days, 3 months or 3 years – regardless, you should begin to think about how you can turn the sea time and skills you learned while on Active Duty into a great paying civilian career.

To apply for these positions with MSC, there is one CRITICAL document you must possess: A U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner’s Document (MMD). It is highly recommended to begin this process prior to departing service. You can obtain a MMD by visiting one of the seventeen USCG Regional Examination Centers, click here for a listing.

Step 1: Complete an Information Request Form (IRF).

Step 2: Get a copy of your Sea Service Transcript from you Commanding Officer documenting your shipboard
experience. Your seatime MAY count towards the Able Seaman qualifications if your rating is: BM, OS, QM, SM, RD or GM. Your seatime MAY count towards the QMED qualifications if your rating is: BT, DC, EM, EN, GS, GSE, GSM, HT, IC, MK, MR, MM, TT.

Step 3: Take this document to one of the U.S. Coast Guard Regional Examination Centers when applying for your MMD.

Step 4: Once you have your MMD, call 1-866-562-7672, The CIVMAR Support Center and begin the application process.

OTHER USEFUL LINKS
www.uscg.mil/stcw/downloads.htm
www.cool.navy.mil
www.nko.navy.mil

One of the numbers you will need to submit with a completed application is your selective service number. You can obtain that number by visiting https://www4.sss.gov/regver/verification1.asp.

For obtaining military records, visit www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html.

The Coast Guard launched a website to provide merchant mariners with real-time information on the status of pending mariner credential applications. Merchant mariners can check the status of application packages throughout the verification and approval process by logging onto http://homeport.uscg.mil/, clicking on the Merchant Mariners tab and then clicking on Merchant Mariner Application Status.