Security Clearance

People most often think that security clearances are generally limited to the Department of Defense (DOD).  While it is true that a large portion of our country’s security clearances, both for secret and top-secret access fall under the DOD, most of the other large agencies in our country also have security clearance requirements.  These requirements generally follow along the same guidelines as DOD clearances and the issues and problems people experience are similar. From my perspective, however, in dealing with clearances with all of these agencies over the years, here is my brief assessment for each department.  

I have had a number of cases where security clearance applicants, prior to them ever getting to me, have completed their SF 86 and have either lied, misstated, fibbed or obfuscated with the truth on their SF 86 answer. The problem with that is that if the government ever denies a clearance based upon issues like these, a security clearance applicant very well may never get a clearance in the future.

The basis for issuing a security clearance in our country is predicated on full, open disclosure and detailed vetting. With that said, I always advise security clearance applicants that, if the government discovers that you have lied or made a misstatement or misrepresentation on the SF 86 form (previously completed through the e-Qip system and soon through the NBIS eApp portal), it is highly unlikely that you will EVER qualify for a security clearance in the future.

This is a recurrent ad for debt settlement companies that advertise services to help people resolve debts:

“Call our 800 phone number now and we can negotiate with your creditors under a little-known government program that will reduce your credit card debt and it is the secret that the credit card companies don’t want you to know.”

3-Part article series about the current state of the Security Clearance process

By Ronald C. Sykstus

If get a Statement of Reasons (SOR) from the government that says it wants to revoke or deny your security clearance, this is a serious matter that requires immediate attention. Without a clearance and if your employer does not have any available non-classified work for you to do, then a revocation or denial of a security clearance will result in the loss of the job.

According to this article, nearly 3 million Americans. have a security clearance, while about 1.2 million have access to information that is considered top secret. The recent breach, however, feels different insofar as how a low ranking enlisted national guardsman was allegedly able to access and disseminate a great deal of very sensitive and top secret national security information to his gaming buddies.

This is an area of concern for security clearance applicants where one would think that there really wouldn’t be much of an issue. In fact, it can be so problematic that I have seen a number of situations where it has prohibited an individual from ever getting a security clearance.

By Ronald C. Sykstus

Over the last three years or so, I have seen a marked increase in people who hold or are trying to get security clearances running into issues as they relate to psychological conditions. The guideline that controls security clearances references,

By Ronald C. Sykstus

One of the issues that I have seen lately is individuals with clearances getting criminally charged with federal or state offenses. What should you do if you hold a security clearance and find that you are charged or have pending criminal charges in federal or state court?