Security Clearance Jobs Blog

In February 2010 the U.S. House of Representatives passed their version (HR 2701) of the Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal year 2010.  The Senate passed their version (S.1494) in September 2009.  Hopefully the two versions will be reconciled, passed by Congress, and sent to the President.

The House version creates an Ombudsman for Intelligence Community (IC) security clearances in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and requires each IC agency to provide contact information for the ombudsman to all clearance applicants.

The House version also requires the President to submit to Congress within 180 days of enactment a report that includes the feasibility, counterintelligence risk, and cost effectiveness of –

• by not later than January 1, 2012, requiring the investigation and adjudication of security clearances to be conducted by not more than two Federal agencies; and

• by not later than January 1, 2015, requiring the investigation and adjudication of security clearance to be conducted by not more than one Federal agency.

Both the creation of an ombudsman for IC clearances and a formal study on reducing the number of investigative and adjudicative agencies seem like excellent ideas.  Both could result in improving clearance reciprocity.  The last time an Intelligence Authorization Act became law was in December 2004.  The ones since then have either died in Congress or been successfully vetoed.  So, this may not be the best vehicle to further these two ideas.

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A February 17, 2010 article at Government Computer News reported that:

“The Homeland Security Department is nearly three years behind in getting Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards for its employees and contractors, according to a new report from DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner.”

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (August 2004), Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors, mandated that federal agencies issue secure federal ID cards by October 2008. As of September 2009, only 15,567, of the approximately 250,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees and contractors, had been issued PIV cards. The January 2010 DHS Inspector General’s report outlined 15 recommendations to improve the department’s implementation of HSPD-12.

Other federal agencies have also had problems implementing the PIV card requirement.  According to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of December 2009 only a handful of federal agencies had met the October 2008 PIV card implementation requirements of OMB Memorandum M-05-24. A February 2008 article at nextgov.com provides a good overview of the program and its problems.

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An article in the Ventura County Star reports that Port Hueneme Navy officials didn’t trust a security manager to keep classified information safe.  The security manager for the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center at Port Hueneme in 2008 was gone after 10 months on the job and put on administrative leave without pay.

The security manager, Gary Bigger,  maintains security violations occurred at the base for years and is being made a scapegoat.  Biggers said he was trained for the security manager position for two weeks.

An official 2008 Navy report related to his case revealed a list of security lapses and recommended that Biggers and other employees be stripped of their security clearances.

A twist in the story…

In May 2008, Biggers and his lawyer, Jack Futoran of Ventura, received a letter explaining why officials at the center were going to ask higher-ups to never allow Biggers to have access to military secrets.

The letter arrived in a package that also contained the investigative report. Futoran said he was surprised to also see, with the report, some photocopied documents marked “Top Secret” and “Secret.”

“These people deal with some extremely sensitive stuff,” Futoran said. “I immediately closed that (document),” and he told Biggers, “You can’t have this. I can’t have this.”

Port Hueneme is primarily an engineering, maintenance and construction base for various Navy functions. The Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme is home to the Pacific coast “SeaBees”, the wartime engineering and building force.

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The AP reports:

The government accused Dongfan “Greg” Chung, a stress analyst with high-level clearance, of using his 30-year career at Boeing and Rockwell International to steal the documents. They said investigators found papers stacked throughout Chung’s house that included sensitive information about a booster rocket fueling system — documents that employees were ordered to lock away at the end of each day. They said Boeing invested $50 million in the technology over a five-year period.

In his ruling, Carney [the judge] wrote that the notion that Chung was merely a pack rat was “ludicrous” and said the evidence showed that he had been passing information to Chinese officials as a spy.

Chung worked for Rockwell until it was bought by Boeing in 1996. He stayed with the company until he was laid off in 2002, then was brought back a year later as a consultant. He was fired when the FBI began its investigation in 2006.

To no ones surprise, China has denied any involvement.   It’s worth noting that this case came about while investigators were looking into another suspected Chinese spy.

Of course, this is just one way to spy – another, bigger,  growing problem exists.

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Once again the news media got it wrong. Referring to the Report of the DoD Independent Review Related to Fort Hood (Protecting the Force: Lessons from Fort Hood), an Associated Press article, claimed:

“Their investigation also found his top-level security clearance hadn’t been properly investigated.”

A WashingtonPost.com article stated:

“The report also said that Hasan was granted a top-level security clearance in February 2008 but that his background check did not include interviews with co-workers, supervisors or Hasan himself.”

The DoD report actually stated:

“[Hasan] held an active and current SECRET security clearance based on a February 2008 National Agency Check with Local Agency and Credit Check of [sic] background investigation. Although accomplished in accordance with current guidelines, this background investigation did not include a subject interview or interviews with coworkers, supervisors, or expanded character references.”

A Secret clearance can hardly be characterized as a “top-level security clearance,” and if it was “accomplished in accordance with current guidelines” it was incorrect to claim that it “hadn’t been properly investigated.” A standard NACLC has the narrowest scope of any security clearance investigation and does not include a Subject Interview or any reference interviews. It simply isn’t capable of surfacing the type of information that might have made a difference in Hasan’s case.

The DoD report went on to criticize the adequacy of the NACLC for Secret clearances, the vagueness of the Adjudicative Guidelines, and insufficient training on how and to whom significant information is reported. However, the DoD report did not cite any specific examples of vagueness in the guidelines or insufficiency in training. Army Regulation 380-67, “Personnel Security Program” states, “the supervisor must ensure that all relevant information is reported to the local command security official responsible for processing the investigative paperwork.” It also states, “Coworkers have an equal obligation to advise their supervisor or appropriate security official when they become aware of information with potentially serious security significance regarding someone with access to classified information or employed in a sensitive position.” Guideline A of the Adjudicative Guidelines appears equally clear and unambiguous about the issue of loyalty and allegiance.

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The FBI released a statement and politico reported that a former FBI contract linguist pleaded guilty to unlawfully providing classified documents to the host of an Internet blog who then published information derived from those documents on the blog.

Shamai Kedem Leibowitz, a.k.a., Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, 39, of Silver Spring, Maryland, pleaded guilty in federal court to a one-count information charging him with knowingly and willfully disclosing to an unauthorized person five FBI documents classified at the “Secret” level that contained classified information concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States.  Under the plea agreement, the government and Leibowitz have agreed that a term of 20 months imprisonment is the appropriate sentence in this case.

From January 2009 through August 2009, Leibowitz was employed by the FBI as a contract linguist in an office in Calverton, Maryland.  Leibowitz held a Top Secret security clearance and is an Israeli American dual citizen. More from Politico…

“After news of the charges against him broke, it took reporters only minutes to track down news articles reporting that Leibowitz was fired from a legal clerkship in Israel and was publicly chastised by an Israeli Supreme Court justice for leaking a judge’s private comments…

Experts were also puzzled that someone with a long history of public activism on polarizing issues would wind up working for U.S. law enforcement in a classified environment and be granted access to sensitive information…

Some lawyers said the top-secret clearance awarded to Leibowitz, who describes himself as an Israeli-American, was particularly puzzling because Americans who are also Israeli citizens frequently face clearance denials and delays because of concerns they might harbor an allegiance to Israel.”

The FBI said it would look at whether the clearance process was handled properly.

Does this signal a breakdown in the security clearance process?

Related Article: Dual Citizenship And Security Clearances, Foreign Influence and Security Clearances

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As seen on Time Magazine’s website. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been “the best recruiting officer” for U.S. military efforts to partner with Arab states over the past year. That’s according to General David Petraeus, who as commander of Centcom is responsible for overseeing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What’s been good for Centcom has also been good for the high-tech U.S. arms industry. Despite the global recession, Arab states have signed huge deals for U.S. military hardware, whose sophistication has been on full display in two long wars in the neighborhood.

Petraeus said countries in the region now deploy eight Patriot missile-interceptor batteries — up from zero a few years ago — made by Raytheon Corp. And the Pentagon last month announced that Kuwait had ordered upgrades of its Patriot missile system, in a deal worth $410 million. But Raytheon isn’t the only beneficiary of anxiety over Iran. The United Arab Emirates this year ordered $9 billion worth of U.S. military gear, Petraeus noted, including 70 Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jets.

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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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On December 7, 2009 Psnews reported that the Government of Australian will consolidate the granting of all security clearances under their Department of Defence by October 2010. Currently clearances are granted by more than 100 different agencies using 50 separate investigative service providers.

“The new approach is expected to save $5.3 million a year and improve the security vetting process by ensuring Public Servants and business contractors have a single clearance effective across Government.  It was also designed to address unnecessary regulation and remove inconsistencies within the current system.”

Australia only processes about 50,000 federal security clearances a year (about 6% of the number processed in the U.S.), but it’s still commendable that government agencies there are wililng to surrender authority for their own security clearances to a single agency in order to create a monolithic system that promises greater efficiency and consistency.

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The quest to speed up the security clearance process continues with several Senators introducing the Security Clearance Modernization and Reporting Act of 2009 yesterday.

Overall the bill’s goal is similar to the Executive Order 13467 President Bush signed in June 2008 and would codify many of those provisions.

An article in NextGov goes on to say that the bill would:

• “mandate the creation of a performance accountability council to oversee the reduction of the government’s security clearance backlog and extends reporting requirements.”
• director of OMB will submit an IT strategy to Congress within 120 days of the bill’s enactment to speed up the security clearance process.
• “agencies would have to continue reporting to Congress on their progress in improving the security clearance process until two years after GAO removes the program from the high-risk list.”

“As for reciprocal recognition of security clearances among agencies, the legislation, a Senate Democratic committee aide said the bill “reemphasizes” that requirement. “We were getting the sense that not everyone was following the intent, as we saw it, of what reciprocal recognition was,” the staffer said.”

Related Articles: Security Clearance Reciprocity of Special Access Eligibility

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On November 20, 2009 the Defense Security Service issued the following policy alert entitled, “Foreign Passport: Disposition Influences Personnel Clearance Eligibility.”

DISCO will not grant or continue a personnel clearance if the clearance applicant or cleared individual possesses a current foreign passport. In instances where the foreign passport is the sole potential disqualifying factor in the personnel clearance adjudication, DISCO will send a Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) message to the Facility Security Officer (FSO) stating that if DISCO receives reliable documentary evidence that the foreign passport has been destroyed, invalidated, or surrendered, DISCO will grant or continue the clearance. The passport holder may surrender the foreign passport to the FSO for safekeeping, but the FSO is not required to perform this service. . . .

Related Articles: Dual Citizenship And Security Clearances, Foreign Influence and Security Clearances

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“Failure to provide truthful and candid answers during the security clearance process” is one of the most common reasons for the denial or revocation of security clearances.

Of the approximately 1,300 security clearance cases decided by Administrative Judges of the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) during fiscal year 2008, Personal Conduct was the second most frequently cited issue and appeared in 497 (38%) of the cases. It was almost always cited due to applicants concealing information related to one of the other issues, such as criminal conduct, drug involvement, and alcohol consumption.

In recent years the misrepresentation of educational qualifications has gained increased importance in security clearance investigations and adjudication. Previously educational degrees were merely verified. Today the bona fides of questionable post-secondary schools are being scrutinized.

Unfortunately in many falsification cases, the information the applicant tried to conceal would not have resulted in a clearance denial…read more.

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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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Over at the Newsweek blog, Declassified, Mark Hosenball explored the recent events at Fort Hood and the role the security-clearance procedures played or didn’t play.

According to Wayne Hall, a spokesman at Army HQ at the Pentagon, everyone who receives a commission as a U.S. Army officer has to undergo a security investigation, which qualifies him or her, at a minimum, to handle information classified secret…he said standard practice is that officers normally have to receive their secret clearance before they are formally commissioned, and that sometimes commissions are held up pending the successful conclusion of the security check.  At this point there is no reason to believe that Hasan had anything higher than the standard secret clearance required by all officers at his level.

The background investigation of the shooter will likely come under some scrutiny as the investigations proceed.

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In a September 15, 2009 written response to questions posed to the Director of the FBI following his March 25, 2009 appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee the following information was provided regarding FBI applicant clearance processing for fiscal year 2009 to date:

* Average processing time in days for fastest 90% of applicants.

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