Security Clearance Jobs Blog

Federal prosecutors, the district court judge and a number of others are asking how Army Reserve 2^nd Lt. Scott Allan Bennett was able to obtain a top-secret clearance and work as a defense contractor, despite a 2008 misdemeanor conviction for lying to government officials, the Tampa Bay Online reports.

The story unfolds like something from a television crime drama….or an issue of the Onion satirical newspaper. Over the past five years Bennett has repeatedly lied to government officials, bluffed his way into meetings, offices, and in his current conviction, housing at MacDill Air Force Base.

An Army Reserve spokesman stated that Bennett’s TS/SCI clearance was obtained four months prior to his entrance into the 11^th Psychological Operations Battalion (a somewhat fitting occupation for a man of Bennett’s persuasion). Almost everyone seems to agree that regardless of how it happened, allowing such a person access to sensitive information is risky for a number of reasons.

ClearanceJobs managing director Evan Lesser, quoted in the Tampa Bay Online, says that government agencies need to investigate how Bennett got his clearance, what information he had access to and what he may have done with that information.

“It seems really difficult to believe that he did not have red flags from past behavior,” Lesser said. “Should somebody be concerned about this person? I would say most definitely. He had high level clearance and access to a fair amount of classified information at a very high level. It seems like somebody dropped the ball on this particular person.”

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The Atlantic reports (courtesy of Registan blogger Joshua Foust) of a recent job posting for agricultural specialists, security clearance required. It points to the dramatic increase in recent years for the need for individuals in a variety of occupations to hold security clearances – from executive assistants and janitorial crews working in cleared facilities to, in this case, farmers deploying to help native populations in combat zones. As the Atlantic notes there’s good reason for individuals deploying to locations like Iraq and Afghanistan to have clearances – sensitive information is on the line and individuals working alongside deployed troops and in secure facilities will most definitely have unique access.

The need for farmers with security clearances also points to the increase number of security clearances issued in recent years. The number of clearances has become so significant, in fact, that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is having trouble coming up with the exact number, according to reports from Secrecy News. While the director of the ODNI special security center stated in a Capitol Hill briefing that they would divulge the number of security clearances held sometime after the first of this year, the figure has yet to be disclosed.

Secrecy News reports that ODNI will still provide the number – but will include it as a part of the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2010, which required disclosure of the total number of clearances. All of this leads to the conclusion that keeping tabs on exactly how many security clearances have been issued and are active is easier said than done. A 2010 GAO report estimates the number at 2.5 million, but only ODNI knows for sure.

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If you haven’t checked out our 2011 Salary Survey, it isn’t too late. Security-cleared professionals should be happy to read that they remain among the top earners, even in a recovering economy. If you add certifications to your security clearance you can expect added monetary benefits – check out our survey of the top 10 certifications held by cleared professionals.

Defense contractors still see the highest salaries with their expected earnings remaining relatively flat over 2010′s numbers at an annual take averaging $98,221. Government workers can expect $83,577 (but let’s not downplay the benefits of getting President’s Day off…), with the average salary among cleared workers in all sectors at $88,894.

Security-cleared professionals with an intelligence agency-issued clearance were on average the highest paid with average salaries of $96,089. Cleared workers with polygraph also earn approximately 22 percent more than their non-polyed peers. Project managers, sales or business professionals and engineers are among the top-earners in the cleared industry.

Other highlights from the 2011 Salary Survey? The unemployment rate for technology professionals has been significantly below the national average since 2001. A security clearance and the increased demand for cybersecurity professionals and we can expect continued upward pressure for cleared cyber workers.

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On January 19, 2011 the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) published its 8-0 decision regarding “NASA v. Nelson.” It reversed and remanded the decision of the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant a preliminary injunction against NASA enforcement of Personal Identity Verification (PIV) credentialing required under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 for contractor personnel who occupy non-sensitive, low-risk positions.

28 contractors working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory a filed suit against the U.S. Government claiming that the National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) investigation used to determine eligibility for PIV credentialing violated their right to “informational privacy.”  A U.S. District Court initially denied their request for a preliminary injunction, but the injunction was later granted by the 9^th Circuit Court. The SCOTUS majority opinion skirted the main issue by stating:

“Assuming, without deciding, that the Government’s challenged inquiries implicate a privacy interest of constitutional significance, that interest, whatever its scope, does not prevent the Government from asking reasonable questions of the sort included on SF–85 and Form 42 in an employment background investigation that is subject to the Privacy Act’s safeguards against public disclosure. . . . The forms are reasonable in light of the Government interests at stake.” (emphasis added)

In a separate concurring opinion, Justice Scalia made the simple assertion that a “federal constitutional right to ‘informational privacy’ does not exist.” He objected to the SCOTUS majority opinion because “The Court decides that the Government did not violate the right to informational privacy without deciding whether there is a right to informational privacy, and without even describing what hypothetical standard should be used to assess whether the hypothetical right has been violated.”

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On December 22, 2010 the Office of Personnel Management announced that in February they will begin a phased implementation of the Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) version of the new March 2010 Questionnaire for National Security Positions (Standard Form 86—SF86). A copy of the new SF86 has not yet been posted to the OPM forms site, but was to be distributed to other investigations service providers before the end of December.

The last version (July 2008) of the SF86 was phased in over a period of about 5 months from September 2008 to January 2009.  DOD contractor personnel were among the last to begin using the form.

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An article in the Washington Post reported that Altegrity, a privately held Falls Church, VA company that provides security/screening services, will buy Kroll from Marsh & McLennan Cos. for $1.13 billion in cash.

Altegrity was started in 1996 when the federal government privatized the investigative branch of the Office of Personnel Management. The company began with 600 employees and was originally called U.S. Investigations Services. Among its first contract work were security clearance background investigations. It has grown to 8,000 employees across the U.S.

Altegrity does a range of contract work, mostly for the federal government, including security clearance investigations for the U.S. government and training and consulting for police departments in such places as Afghanistan, Colombia, Iraq and Pakistan.

Kroll performs corporate investigations and security business and has 3,000 employees in 55 cities around the world.  The deal for Kroll is expected to close in September.  Altegrity’s CEO served as Kroll’s CEO from 2001 to 2004.  The deal is expected to allow Altegrity to better compete against defense contractors on government service contracts.

Related articles:  Investigators Consider Using Smartphones | USIS Hiring 200 Investigators

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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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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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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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On 30 June 2008 President Bush issued Executive Order 13467 (Reforming Processes Related to Suitability for Government Employment, Fitness for Contractor Employees, and Eligibility for Access to Classified National Security Information).

Some may view E.O. 13467 as just another well-intentioned but mundane bureaucratic pronouncement that enables but fails to command much needed change.  It has the potential of being the most significant executive order regarding the federal government’s personnel security program in over a decade. Much will depend on the extent to which the Director of National Intelligence uses the broad new authority granted to him to create a logical monolithic process out of the current morass of incongruent policies and practices.

For highlights and possible implications of the new executive order, see the article, A Review of Executive Order 13467.

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