Security Clearance Jobs Blog

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence announced last week regarding their 2nd Annual Summer Seminar for College Students interested in Intelligence Community careers.

They will again offer about 40 highly motivated graduate students and college seniors an opportunity to study with currently serving intelligence analysts and other experts. The National Security Analysis & Intelligence Summer Seminar is planned for July 13 through July 24 in Washington, D.C. The intensive, residential seminar will include lectures, field trips to agencies and work on substantive topics under the direction of Intelligence Community analysts, academics and other professionals.

Career opportunities will be highlighted. Students who are selected and approved will receive secret-level security clearances for the duration of the seminar. “The program’s benefits are many fold,” said Director Dennis C. Blair. “The Intelligence Community is eager to work with some of the nation’s best and brightest. In return, we hope they will benefit from an inside look at what national intelligence is all about.”

The NSAISS application will be available online in January. It is recommended that students who are interested in careers in intelligence begin to gather transcripts, two letters of recommendation and a current resume that must accompany the application. Applicants will also need to complete Standard Form 86 (SF-86)/Questionnaire for National Security Positions (download here).

The NSAISS is open to U.S. citizens who are graduate students, and to college seniors graduating in the 2009-2010 academic year and applying to graduate school. The seminar is not open to federal government employees, contractors or currently serving military or activated reservists. Participants will receive travel expenses, room and board, course materials and a $500 stipend. The debut effort attracted more than 700 applicants for 40 slots.

For more information, click here.

Related: Intelligence Jobs on ClearanceJobs.com

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Amid growing unemployment, foreclosure and delinquency rates are spiking.  We thought it would be a good time to revisit how a person’s personal financial situation can affect their  security clearance.

A sampling of Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) security clearance hearings showed (in 2007, just when the recession was taking hold) that about 50% of clearance denials involved “Financial Considerations”

Since delinquent debt is by far the most common financial concern, we published several articles on this very topic entitled; The Impact of Delinquent Debt on Security Clearances, What To Do If You Have Delinquent Debt, Explaining Delinquent Debt on the SF-86, Delinquent Debt and Interim Clearance, as well as several blog posts.

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The 2009 Security Clearance Salary Survey of 5,023 security-cleared job seekers conducted by ClearanceJobs.com has been released! See how you compare with your colleagues!

After you complete this short survey, you will be provided with the most current salary survey results in an 8 page [pdf] report for free!

Get the Security Clearance Salary Survey

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Our very own Evan Lesser aka “admin” made an appearance last Sunday on This Week in Defense News where he discusses the pay gap between civilian and government employees with security clearances.

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A Washington Post article on June 24, 2009 reported the planned establishment of a Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber-Defense Command by October 2009 with full operational capability by October 2010. The Cyber-Defense Command’s mission will be to defend military networks, but will assist federal civilian networks.

But a July 22, 2009 Associated Press article reported that a private study found “severe shortages of computer specialists in the federal government. Of concern is the potential threat to national security from increasing coordinated cyberattacks. In the article Ron Sanders, chief human capital officer for the national intelligence director’s office, acknowledged that the intelligence community has more flexibility and resources to attract computer specialists but said there is still an overall shortfall of U.S. citizens with the needed expertise who can also meet security clearance requirements. DoD claims more than 90,000 cybersecurity workers; other federal agencies are estimated to have a total of 35,000 to 45,000 personnel. The private study, Cyber IN-Security: Strengthening the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce, “which details serious problems within the professional community charged with protecting the government’s computer networks against attacks, was produced by the Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.

Related articles: U.S. CyberSecurity Initiative Puts Focus on IT Security Skills, Cyberspace Policy Review, Cyber Threat Posed by North Korea and China to South Korea and US Forces Korea

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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. The rules are listed below. Failure to abide by them will mean your question will be deleted.

NOTE: Due to the volume of questions we receive, we cannot answer all of them. Selected questions that have not been answered in the past will likely be answered.

If you would like a guaranteed private answer to your question, please see here.

Note: All questions are moderated. After you post, it can take up to a week for the question to be “live” on the site and our panelists to see it and answer it.

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. Do not post your questions in previous versions of this thread.
6. 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.

Note: If your post does not appear on this site, you may not be following the rules above.

If you would like a guaranteed private answer to your question, please see here.

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

Related Articles:

• Employment Suitability Versus Security Clearance
• Criminal Conduct and Security Clearances
• Drug Involvement and Security Clearances
• Rebutting and Appealing Security Clearance Denials
• Alcohol Consumption and Security Clearances
• Personal Finances and Security Clearances

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With the economic downturn and entering the seventh year of overseas combat, some Soldiers and civilians are worried about their security clearance.

The commander of the U.S. Army Central Personnel Security Clearance Facility (CCF) wants all Army personnel to understand that “they can obtain counseling services for financial and mental health issues without undue concern of placing their security clearance status in jeopardy…”

As previously mentioned on ClearanceJobsBlog, a bankruptcy or foreclosure will not automatically prevent one from obtaining or maintaining a security clearance. There are many conditions surrounding financial hardships that often mitigate security concerns.

In fact, about 98 percent of cases received by the CCF which involve financial issues were granted a security clearance. This trend has been consistent since 2005.  Individuals under financial duress are encouraged to contact their local Army Community Service or Military One Source to obtain financial counseling to determine how to best manage their debts.

Many Soldiers expressed an unwillingness to participate in behavioral or psychological health programs, however the OPM ensures that investigations are conducted in a manner compliant with the revised Q21, which excludes the reporting of treatment related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment, such as PTSD, or mild traumatic brain injury.

Executive Order 12968, Access to Classified Information states mental health counseling in and of itself is not a reason to revoke or deny a security clearance. Seeking support to address mental health issues demonstrates inner strength and embodies the Warrior Ethos, Army leaders have said.

Professional mental health counseling is not a threat to an individual’s security clearance; rather it can be a positive factor in the security clearance process, officials said.  CCF’s adjudicative history indicates that 99.98 percent of cases with psychological concerns obtained/retained their security clearance eligibility.  The current policy provides both adjudicators and commanders flexibility to allow individuals undergoing counseling to maintain their security clearance.

Related Articles: Personal Finances and Security Clearances

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A June 20, 2009 article at WashingtonPost.com reported, “The Obama administration has proposed the creation of an intelligence officer training program in colleges and universities that would function much like the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps run by the military services.”

Under the sponsorship of the Director of National Intelligence the new program would expand on two earlier educational programs and focus on first- and second-generation Americans with language and cultural knowledge. Candidates would be selected from among sophomores and juniors at participating schools and would receive financial assistance similar to the support given to those in ROTC, plus paid summer internships. Participation in the program would obligate the student to serve in an IC agency for a period of time based on the financial assistance they received. The intelligence community (IC) currently provides funding to 14 colleges and universities for programs in national security studies.

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When you are security-cleared, everyday life events like vacations, new friends and neighbors, and personal relationships can have an impact on national security. Take a few minutes and watch our very own Emelyne Smith discuss the many seemingly common activities that are of concern to the U.S. government and those with security clearances.

View the ClearanceJobs Channel on YouTube for additional videos and information.

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An article in The Houston Chronicle detailed a two-year forbidden foreign love affair that got a Houston engineer six months in federal prison. The engineer wasn’t accused of spying, but was accused of and pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements.

Gregory W. Blackard, 38, was sentenced for hiding his affair with a Chinese woman while working on construction of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Having a high-security clearance to work on the embassy, Blackard was banned from fraternizing with Chinese nationals. He met other Chinese people through the woman and traveled with her to places such as Hong Kong, the Great Wall, and Long Mai Hot Springs.

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The Partnership for Public Service and American University’s Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation published their 2009 rankings of the best places to work in the federal government. The rankings were based on data from the biannual Federal Human Capital Survey administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and are posted at http://data.bestplacestowork.org/index.php/bptw/index.

Data was collected from 212,000 federal employees in 279 federal organizations and subcomponents, including 30 large agencies and 32 small agencies. Index scores for large organizations ranged from 80.7 to 52.2.

Among those listed as large agencies, the Nuclear Regulatory Agency ranked 1st overall for employee satisfaction and commitment. The US Intelligence Community, which was included in the rankings for the first time, ranked 4th. Surprisingly (or perhaps not) OPM, whose title implies expertise in creating employee satisfaction and commitment, ranked 20th. The Department of Homeland Security ranked 28th.

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On May 8, 2009 John Berry, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) jokingly told a senate subcommittee that his agency was sometimes referred to as the “Office of Personnel Recommendations.”  Berry made this comment at a hearing on the Federal Hiring Process Improvement Act of 2009 (S.736). OPM has no ability to force other federal agencies to comply with existing personnel rules, and no penalties exist for noncompliance.

Regardless of Berry’s stated intent to administratively implement the provisions of S736, the legislation is necessary for any substantive changes to the government’s cumbersome and slow hiring practices. S.736 seeks to:

• Require agencies to promptly notify applicants of their status at each major step of the selection process.
• Fill vacancies in an average of 80 days or less.
• Allow applicants to submit a cover letter, resume, and answers to brief questions, such as questions relating to United States citizenship and veterans status, to complete an application
• Improve job announcements
• Eliminate KSAs (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities) essays.

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According to a May 25, 2009 article at FederalTimes.com, “Fifty-three federal and contractor falsified security clearance background investigations since 2005. . . . All of them have either been fired or left their jobs, and six were prosecuted within the last year for criminal misconduct.” The investigators worked directly or indirectly for the Federal Investigative Services Division (FISD) of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM chose to prosecute six investigators to send a message to potential offenders that they can face felony charges and jail time, instead of just being fired.

Other current and former investigators blame the problem on crushing workloads and constant pressure from supervisors to meet shorter deadlines for completing investigations. The article quoted Kathy Dillaman, Associate Director of FISD, as saying, “There are certainly pressures to perform. The taxpayers deserve that. But this isn’t your job if you can’t handle those pressures.

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A news story from WHNT NEWS in Huntsville, Alabama exposed how people in high positions in the military and missile defense have purchased their degree without spending all the time, energy and money – at a diploma mill, where no classes and no course work are necessary…just cash.

The story focuses on a defense contractor with security clearance and phony degrees.

What’s the harm?

“So here we have a contractor responsible for handling very sensitive information…The person is susceptible to pressure to blackmail to being told that he needs to provide some information or else they’re going to nail him. They’ll make him lose his job and this is a person in a position of great responsibility. It’s really, really frightening” says George Gollin, who worked with the federal government to prosecute diploma mills.

“Any corrupt individual would be harmful to the defense of the United States of America whether it would be this issue or other issues,” said Brigadier General David Grange.

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Worried about being denied a security clearance because of bad credit? Considering a credit repair company to fix your credit report?

In an AARP Bulletin Today Scam Alert article, Credit Repair’s Dirty Business, Steven Baker of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was quoted as saying, “In the last year, we’ve seen an increase of 50 percent in reports of credit repair scams. And to date, we’ve never seen a legitimate credit repair company. False promises, upfront fees, and worthless services may be the norm.

Since 1998 the FTC has brought action against over 50 credit repair firms that allegedly misrepresented their credit-related services. The FTC also prosecuted more than a dozen companies that allegedly offered debt relief but misrepresented the cost or nature of the relief.

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