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

I ran across a recent Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Hearings and Appeals case that made me scratch my head and ask “What the heck was she thinking?’ This one involved a DOE contractor who was completing a master’s degree program related to her job that was paid for

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Security Clearance Process

As another part of the shift from decades old practices of reinvestigating security clearance holders every 5 or 10 years, the DoD will focus on beefing up IT systems and resources that will continuously scour open-source data for information that may indicate problems. New applicants still have to go through

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Obtaining Security Clearance

There is much discussion on the forum about whether or not counseling or taking medication for a mental illness would prevent you from obtaining or holding a security clearance.  Myths continue to permeate and cause those needing help to hesitate in seeking it out for fear of losing their eligibility.

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Security Clearance Denial

We are at the mid-year point and so far the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) Board heard 979 clearance denial appeals. Below is a breakdown by adjudicative category of the types of issues involved (Note – many cases had multiple issues): Adjudicative Guideline YTD Guideline A: Allegiance to

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