Security Clearance Jobs Blog

On 30 July 2008 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported (GAO-08-1050T) their review of personnel security clearance reform efforts to a congressional subcommittee. Their observations and recommendation were based on the recently issued Joint Security and Suitability Reform Team’s Initial Plan, the appendix to that plan, and Executive Order 13467.

GAO reported, “The level of direction in the executive order and the establishment of a very specific, centralized structure make this latest reform effort stand out from past efforts.”

GAO’s review was generally laudatory, but identified four areas that the executive order and the Initial Plan failed to properly address: 1) how the need for a clearance is validated, 2) processes for assuring quality, 3) specific metrics for evaluating quality, and 4) long-term funding requirements.

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Our popular ongoing series allows you to ask your most complex questions regaring security clearances and our regular contributors of present and former clearance investigators and adjudicators will try to answer them. Here are the rules:

1. Please do not address a contributor by name to ensure anyone who has knowledge might answer.
2. Do not include your own name, email address, or other information that can identify you. This is a public forum and clearance holders have a responsibility for covertness.
3. If you have questions regarding careers, job hunting, salaries, interviewing, or other career-related topics, see the other threads dedicated to this purpose.
4. Provide full details about your case in your initial question thread.
5. Understand that the suggestions and comments contributors provide are their opinions only. The owners of this site are not responsible for the suggestions and guidance from outside contributors.

Please read over previous threads to see if your question has already been answered. Use the Search tool to locate specific keywords.

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On 18 April 2008 the Department of Defense (DoD) announced that Question #21 regarding mental health on Standard Form 86 (Questionnaire for National Security Positions) had been changed. The announcement appears to make the change applicable to everyone (not just DoD personnel) applying for a federal security clearance. The change allows an applicant to answer “no” to the question regarding mental health counseling or treatment, if the counseling or treatment (including hospitalization) was not court-ordered and was for the following reasons:

• strictly marital, family, grief not related to violence by you, or
• strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment.

A “yes” to the question, requires information regarding the dates of treatment, name and address of the health care professional(s) who provided the treatment.

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