Security Clearance Jobs Blog

Maryland State Senator Roger Manno and 27 of his Senate colleagues have proposed a State income tax credit for costs incurred to obtain federal security clearances. The bill (SB296) would require “the Governor of Maryland to make a $6,000,000 appropriation in FY2014 and FY21015 for the tax credit, applying the Act to all taxable years beginning after December 31, 2011.”

Sounds great, but who would actually benefit from this tax credit. The bill does not define “federal security clearance” and it’s unclear whether the term “security clearance” is being used generically to cover all federal clearances (such as National Security Clearances, Public Trust Clearances, HSPD-12 Credentialing, and Transportation Worker Identity Credentials) or whether only National Security Clearances for access to classified national security information will be covered. Nor does the bill hint at the potential number of Maryland residents who might be able to claim the tax credit or the nature of the clearance-related expenses that will be covered. A call to Senator Manno’s office disclosed that the tax credit is primarily intended to benefit federal contractors and/or their employees, but no specific information was readily available.

The vast majority of federal contractor security clearances are processed by the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO), a component of the Defense Security Service (DSS). DOD approved $238.5M in federally appropriated funds for FY2012 to pay for the cost of DSS processing contractor security clearances, and DSS has never charged defense contractors or defense contractor employees for either the cost of personnel security clearances or facility security clearances.

So, the question remains, who will benefit from this tax credit? Will most of the $6M languish in a special fund and be unavailable for other State purposes, or will someone in the Maryland Senate research the subject and either withdraw the bill or rewrite it so it might actually provide some benefit to Maryland workers who are seeking jobs in the defense industry?

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A $39 million task order contract awarded this week to CACI International Inc. includes software engineering and integration services for the Defense Logistics Agency’s security clearance process.

Dan Allen, CACI President of U.S. Operations, said, “With this new task order to support the Department of Defense, CACI will directly enhance the nation’s ability to ensure that only the highest quality professionals receive security clearances. Our direct experience in building advanced interoperable and modular systems for the federal government makes us an excellent choice for this important work.”

The new contract is for a seven-month base period with nine option periods of varying lengths. CACI will provide a service-oriented architecture solution to the security-clearance process, with the goal of increasing timeliness and efficiency.

It will be a work worth following in the coming months and comes on the heels of several efforts to increase the speed and efficiency of the clearance process in the face of some harsh assessments.

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At a military hearing of Pfc. Bradley Manning, accused of leaking thousands of classified documents to the website Wikileaks, a major issue being presented by the defense team is whether Manning should have had access to sensitive information in the first place.

Described by his defense team as a troubled soldier dealing with gender identity issues, Manning’s attorneys sought to place responsibility on his military chain of command for ignoring signs he shouldn’t have been given access to classified computer systems.

Under cross examination by the defense, federal witnesses have acknowledged failures in procedure that allowed Manning to keep both his security clearance and access to secure facilities despite his exhibiting behavior described as “unstable.”

One issue preventing superiors from taking further action that was cited in the trial was the shortage of intelligence analysts with the knowledge and skills to take Manning’s place.

While gender identity is being cited by the defense as an issue that should have alerted superiors, as the ClearanceJobs.com article “Sexual Behavior and Security Clearances” states, it’s sexual behavior that indicates personality or emotional disorder that’s the problem, not specific sexual behavior itself… Continue Reading »

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A Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analyst who lost his job and his security clearance in 2009 has reached a settlement. John Dullahan was never informed of the reason for losing his job due to the Pentagon’s decision to invoke a national security clause which allows it to keep the reason for firing private, and eliminates the normal appeals process for fired government employees.

In one of former defense secretary Robert Gates’ last acts before stepping down, he granted Dullahan an appeal, which allowed him to settle with the DIA and formally retire at the end of last month. Dullahan will also receive all back pay and benefits from the time of his termination, $25,000, and attorney’s fees.

Dullahan lost his job and security clearance after supposedly failing three polygraph examinations, but DoD polygraph policy states that failing a polygraph alone is not sufficient to cost someone their job. There must be corroborating evidence or information from other sources or the applicant himself (this is why the post-poly interview is often the most important – and stressful – part of the process)… Continue Reading »

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A civilian Marine Corps advisor who made waves for repeated calls to increase the number of Mine-Resistant-Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles in theater has gotten his job – and his security clearance – back.

Franz Gayl was relieved of his job and had his security clearance suspended last year, after being accused of using an unauthorized flash drive in a secure computer. The clearance suspension came after years of concerns expressed by supervisors and some admittedly odd behavior on the part of Gayl himself. In a military that prides itself on decorum and chain-of-command, Gayl openly went directly to members of congress with concerns, and even wrote several letters with national security policy recommendations to then President George W. Bush. At office meetings he discussed his depression and financial problems, according to co-workers. Concerned about the state of the economy and possible social collapse, Gayl began stocking up on food and shotguns – something else he didn’t hide from co-workers or supervisors… Continue Reading »

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Expedited security screening at airports may be possible for individuals with security clearances, said TSA Administrator John Pistole.  In an address before George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, Pistole said that he was working with the director of national intelligence to explore the possibility.

Frequent fliers are no strangers to the long lines and invasive procedures that have made the TSA the subject of public complaint and congressional oversight. Several months ago the TSA offered some relief, with the PreCheck program, launched in four U.S. airports under limited use. Frequent fliers were given the option to undergo prescreening and in return, get some of their travel dignity back. PreCheck fliers have their own airport security line and are able to keep their shoes, belt and jackets on, as well as laptops and liquids in their luggage.

There are no details on when clearance holders may be eligible for the PreCheck program, or if a new but similar program might be launched.  But even the possibility would be welcome news for security cleared professionals who spend a lot of time in airports.

“Clearly, that is a category of people that we as a society know and trust more than others,” said Pistole.

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In an OPM rule finalized this week, agencies will have to reinvestigate employees in public trust positions every five years. The rule was initially proposed in December of 2009 but has taken two years to implement.

In the review, some criticized the need for or effectiveness of the periodic investigations themselves, as well as the cause. In the decision OPM supported the executive order but established the National Agency Check with Local Agency Check (NACLC) or Periodic Reinvestigation (PRI) as the “investigative product.” The lower cost of these investigations was cited as the reason for their use… Continue Reading »

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Writing a book criticizing the way your organization does its job and writing a critical blog post linking to a classified document on Wikileaks may seem like a good idea, but it has proven a good way to get your security clearance suspended for Peter Van Buren.

Van Buren, a State Department foreign service officer, recently published the book We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People, all while still working in the human resources department at the Department of State, and holding a top secret security clearance. Van Buren has been critical of his employer in several interviews and blog postings, including an Aug. 25 post which linked to a 2009 Wikileaks released cable about the sale of military parts to Libyan president Muammar Qadaffi, who was killed this week… Continue Reading »

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While we often talk broadly about the time it takes to process security clearances, the investigation itself is the heart of security clearance adjudication. After several years of working to prevent duplication of efforts and the lengthy delays in transferring clearances between agencies or reinvestigating previously investigated individuals, the new guidelines seem to take a step backward.

The Office of Personnel Management’s revised standards use a five-tiered system with six types of investigations and two types of reinvestigations. The new standards don’t allow for an easy transition between public trust and national security positions, largely due to different application forms used. Moral of the story? Prepare for perhaps even lengthier delays when transferring between agencies with different clearance applications, or when applying for higher levels of clearance.

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This week a budget analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency filed a lawsuit against the NGA, seeking reinstatement of his Top Secret/SCI security clearance, it having been revoked after his union with an Islamic women with a number of affiliations with groups of “non-United States origin.” In the period between Mahmoud M. Hegab’s security clearance investigation and his arrival to work with NGA, he had married Bushra Nusairat,a Fairfax citizen and U.S. resident, and a graduate of an Islamic school and current employee of Islamic Relief USA… Continue Reading »

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On September 20, 2011 the FAS (Federation of American Scientists) Secrecy News blog reported, “The number of persons who held security clearances for access to classified information last year exceeded 4.2 million — far more than previously estimated — according to a new intelligence community report to Congress.”

Although this report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) failed to provide data on several metrics required by Section 367 of the 2010 Intelligence Authorization Act, it gave a clearer picture of the cleared community and a different way of looking at the length of time it takes to get a security clearance.

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 642,831 security clearances were granted.  OPM, which reportedly conducts 90% of all security clearance investigations, “provided data for FY 2010 that it had available on 34,029 security clearance determinations across the Federal Government that took longer than one year . . . .”  This suggests that about 5.9% of all cases took over 1 year.

Also of interest was the 7% clearance denial rate reported by the National Security Agency.  For comparison the average denial rate at the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals, Department of Navy, and Department of Air Force was about 1% and the denial rate at Department of Army was about 6%.

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The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has posted 4 new Federal Investigations Notices (FIN) on their website all dated August 29, 2011.

FIN 11-04—“Continuous Efforts to Align with Reciprocity Goals and Timeliness Standards.” This FIN fully implements interim adjustments made to National Investigative Standards by a August 2010 joint memorandum issued by OPM and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).  This represents a significant retreat from the 3-tier concept approved in December 2008 and fails implement one of the major purposes of Executive Order 13467.  E.O. 13467 called for a system where “Each successively higher level of investigation and adjudication shall build upon, but not duplicate, the ones below it.”  As long as suitability/fitness investigations are based on an SF85 or SF85P, there is no possibility that these investigations, no matter how current or comprehensive, can be used to grant a national security clearance, which must be based on the submission of an SF86. Continue Reading »

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We spend most of our time here talking about personnel security clearances, but facility security clearances can also pose major problems, especially for small businesses. It’s the typical chicken before the egg conundrum – you can’t do certain “cleared” work without a facility security clearance but you can’t get a facility security clearance without “cleared” work.

It’s a problem that’s causing one Puget Sound company major headaches, reports the Bremerton Patriot. Puget Sound Environmental was awarded a fixed-price contract for work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. 18 months later they’re still awaiting their facility clearance and according to company president Carlos Moreno, that’s delaying the creation of about 200 full-time positions.

DSS provides a checklist for facility security clearances- but despite offering tips, it doesn’t offer any guarantees on how long the process will take.

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The Defense Security Service (DSS) announced that effective on August 29, 2011 as part of a Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) release update (version 4.3.0.0), the new 2010 Standard Form 86 (Questionnaire for National Security Positions) will be available for use by federal contractors using JPAS.  A new “Fair Credit Release” form will be required as part of the SF86.

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On August 3, 2011 the National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee (NISPPAC) report for March 2011 was posted at their website.  NISPPAC is made up of representatives from Government and industry and meets two to three times a year.  Meetings usually include presentations by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO) on industrial security clearance processing metrics.  The March meeting also included a presentation by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on the activities of the Joint Suitability and Security Clearance Reform Team… Continue Reading »

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