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 Process

In accordance with Executive Orders and policy guidance from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the granting of a security clearance should only be done when there is a legitimate need for access to classified information. Defense Industry companies are highly encouraged to keep the numbers of cleared

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Security Clearance Denial

There are two topics during background investigation processing that cause the most problems for applicants: failure to disclose criminal history and how you left a previous employment. The Standard Form 85, 85-P or 86 (used for all investigation levels also require submission of the OF-306 (Declaration for Federal Employment). There

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Security Clearance Denial

Strength of character, trustworthiness, reliability, honesty, and sound judgement are the traits and characteristics employers want from their workers. The same goes for determining whether to grant someone access to classified national security information. So how does your behavior at work relate to whether you are granted a security clearance?

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Security Clearance Process

Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) judges are supposed to review facts presented in security clearance appeal cases and use the adjudicative guidelines to determine if national security concerns were mitigated or not. Impartiality and putting aside personal views and biases are necessary traits in order for judges to

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