Author Archive

Marko Hakamaa

Marko Hakamaa served in various military police positions with the United States Army worldwide for 22 years before retiring in 2006 as a Master Sergeant. Afterwards, he transitioned into the civilian workforce as a contractor background investigator for the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) before entering civil service as a Security Specialist in 2009.

Obtaining Security Clearance

Security clearance reform over the past few years have helped lower the length of time it takes to complete the required national security background investigation. Latest metrics published by the Defense Security and Counterintelligence Agency (DCSA) show Tier 5 investigations for Top Secret taking an average 100 days or less to complete

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Security Clearance Process

Over the last year the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA), in collaboration with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), has been pushing all Federal agencies who are using OPM’s Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) to start the transition over to the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) replacement system

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Security Clearance Denial

Even though it is practiced across the entire country, prostitution is illegal in the United States. There are countries where it is legal and regulated. Regardless of where it occurs, soliciting a prostitute is never a good idea for someone who has a security clearance. What is the big deal,

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Security Clearance Denial

I don’t see more than a handful of Defense Office of Hearing and Appeal cases where the applicant is denied security clearance eligibility due to having monies, property and business dealing outside of the United States. This one caught my eye because it involved a multi-millionaire who had assets in

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