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update on the Kings Pointer..... news from USMMA
USMMA's Role in War on Terror Exercise
9/8/2006 - Terrorists threaten the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s training vessel, KINGS POINTER. A team of heavily armed commandos come to the rescue. Fact or fiction?
Fortunately, this compelling scenario is fiction, but with the taste of reality. The KINGS POINTER will serve as the platform for a mock terrorist attack on a maritime target, part of this month’s 2006 U.S. Maritime Security Conference and Expo.
This annual event, which the USMMA co-organizes and co-sponsors, takes place in New York City at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, Sept. 19-20. The mock assault on the KINGS POINTER happens on Sept. 18. Conference participants will be ferried from Manhattan to Kings Point to watch the action unfold.
Both the “terrorists” and the rescuers will come from Blackwater USA, one of the nation’s most respected security firms. The exercise will involve some 15 Blackwater personnel, two helicopters and two small craft. In addition, about five members of the Academy community will act in the exercise, posing as members of the training vessel’s crew.
The U.S. Maritime Security Conference and Expo has the reputation as the most important conference of its kind held on a yearly basis. The conference includes two days of plenary sessions, workshops, simulations and an exhibition.
The USMMA has played a key role in planning and staging this event since its inception five years ago. As in past years, Academy midshipmen will serve as interns, helping at the conference and staffing an Academy exhibit in the exposition area. Other midshipmen, faculty and staff will attend the discussions and workshops.
Since the tragic events of 9/11, the Academy has been deeply involved in the issue of maritime security. Members of its faculty, for instance, designed the model for a maritime security curriculum that is used at maritime educational institutions throughout the world. And the Academy’s Global and Maritime Transportation School (GMATS), a continuing education program, has provided security training to hundreds of government, Armed Forces and private firm personnel.
The USMMA, located in Kings Point, Long Island, New York, is part of the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. | 
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They were to dock & tour WP campus but a terrible storm forced them to just sail around for a few days. Another chance he had, was to go to CT for the week-end. They had a blast. The Kper was down in Charleston this summer with older Mids trying to capture some of those needed sea days. Plebes & Mids can sign up for trips. I think my kid said he got 10 sea days out of the two trips. Every little bit helps. 
