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.

Background Investigations

Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Director David Cattler, who has been the agency director since March 2024, recently accompanied a special agent background investigator as a ride along while conducting field work on multiple background investigations. The director wanted to better understand the multiple mission areas throughout DCSA, and

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Security Clearance Process

Although the primary purpose of the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) is to review appeals for security clearance eligibility, they are also tasked to review appeals for fitness and eligibility for the issuance of a federal credential under Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12. We don’t see too

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Security Clearance Denial

In one of the more unusual Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Hearing and Appeals cases, a DOE contractor had his clearance eligibility revoked due to concerns about psychological conditions and misuse of information technology. The contractor subsequently appealed – below are the highlights of the case. The contractor had

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Security Clearance Process

The Defense Counterintelligence Agency (DCSA) has implemented several corrective measures to tackle the growing background investigation inventory which has increased the time in getting them completed and closed out. DCSA stood up a “Tiger Team” to identify the constraints and factors that have led to the increase, and they came

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