I'm posting this on behalf of a shipmate of mine who doesn't have a fred's place membership and felt that the "Clearances questions" thread didn't answer his question. His question is:
"I understand the 210' has been downgraded to Secret. Is that the same for the 270 and 378? Or are they still TS? And what's the story on that?"
Well whats the issue, can this member not get a TS clearance? was he denied or have some discrepancies on his record that would make him ineligible for a TS?
I was recently on a 378 and yes we needed TS. Without a TS you could never get fully qualified since every watchstander in Radio had to have a TS clearance.
So basically no cutter should REQUIRE a member (unless you are the EKMS custodian or fill similar postition) to have a TS clearance. You could have a perfectly productive tour onboard any cutter with just a Secret clearance. That should make it pretty clear.
On a side note... fredsplace isnt the only... and definitely not the best place to find answers about anything. The best place would be your chain of command, or dig through some manuals.
If the HCI of the ship is TS, the OS's are required to hold a TS clearance or they can't do their job. If you can't get a TS and you are on a 210, you will most likely be kicked off the ship or you'll have to leave if/whenever TS crypto is needed. Just because its not being carried doesn't mean it won't at some point if needed.
