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 has worked as a contractor background investigator, a government industrial and personnel security specialist, and as a national security and public trust background investigation adjudicator.

Security Clearance Process

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) mandates that all federal agencies provide quarterly and annual reports regarding the number of new background investigations submitted and adjudicated, upgrades processed, employees onboarded under reciprocity, and clearances granted. Agencies must also report timeliness data for all categories, including how long

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Security Clearance Denial

Certain federal agencies, such as those that grant access to nuclear information, use an additional security and safety vetting measure known as the Human Reliability Program (HRP). The HRP is designed to ensure that individuals occupying certain positions meet the highest standards of reliability and physical and mental suitability. To

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Security Clearance Denial

Lindy Kyzer recently published an article on ClearanceJobs that discussed the impact dual citizenship can have on security clearance eligibility. A recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals case involved an applicant who was a dual citizen of the United States and Russia and was initially denied eligibility based on

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Background Investigations

There is a long-running discussion thread on ClearanceJobsBlog.com that current, past and future contractor background investigators are using to discuss the current state of affairs for their career field. Most investigators are what are called 1099ers, meaning they are independents performing work for the company who is under contract to

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