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.

Security Clearance Denial

Alcohol consumption is one of the adjudicative concerns when evaluating an applicant’s eligibility for a security clearance. Most people do consume some type of alcohol, but how often, how much, and the effect it has on the person is what adjudicators are looking for, especially when it leads to violence

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Security Clearance Denial

I thought we would take a step back in time and take a look at a security clearance denial case that occurred in 1954. Most people have heard of Robert Oppenheimer, world renowned physicist and his contribution to science. What may be less known is he was accused of disloyalty

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Security Clearance Process

The Department of Defense (DoD) recently released an updated version of the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) that lines up with the previously released Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) 3 regarding reportable activities and reporting requirements for contractors who hold a security clearance. The Center for Development of Security Excellence developed

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Security Clearance Denial

The Bond Amendment states that an agency may refuse to grant or renew a security clearance for an individual who “has been convicted in any court of the United States of a crime, was sentenced to imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year, and was incarcerated as a result of

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