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

The Senate recently passed a bill called the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 with an intent to provide exclusivity, consistency, and transparency in security clearance procedures for Intelligence Community agencies with the right of government employees to appeal unfavorable eligibility determinations to an agency-level panel. This higher level

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Background Investigations

A supervisory human resource specialist at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was removed as a result of an adverse suitability determination after the completion of a public trust background investigation needed for his position. This individual was a supervisory human resources specialist with the Department of the Army (DA)

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Career Advice

In the security clearance and background investigation world there are quite a few terms used that may cause confusion for those not familiar with the lexicon used by personnel security specialists and investigators. Below are typical terms and definitions used in personnel security and investigations processing. Security Term Definition (1)

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Security Clearance Denial

Security clearance holders receive an annual briefing on the requirements for maintaining eligibility and what kinds of activities are a no-no. Yet, time and again a select few choose to ignore the warnings and gamble they won’t get caught. Another recent case involving a Department of Energy contractor shows the

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