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

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) issued Federal Investigations Notice (FIN) 20-01 announcing the release of the revised Standard Form 85P used for Public Trust background investigations. The new form will ask applicants to provide more information in areas like foreign travel, criminal records and arrests, and credit history. Up to

Read More
Background Investigations

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently published a joint Executive Correspondence (EC) fact sheet called ”Transforming Federal Personnel Vetting: Measures to Expedite Reform and Further Reduce the Federal Government’s Background Investigation Inventory.” The EC outlines measures agencies are to

Read More
Security Clearance Denial

As a follow-on to a previous article in which a former Navy contractor was found guilty and sentenced to prison for lying on his background investigation application and to FBI agents, another similar case just finished in federal court involving a former State Department contractor. Zaldy Sabino was sentenced to seven years

Read More
Security Clearance Denial

In the national security world, ignorance or mistake of law is generally not an excuse for failing to abide by legal obligations. This opinion has been established long ago by appeals board judges in upholding security clearance denials. There are various adjudicative guidelines where claiming ignorance of the rules or

Read More