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

Through the end of November this year the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) Board held 1,142 hearings for appeals on adverse security clearance determinations, eligibility for placement into public trust position or a Common Access Card denial. For comparison, I included last year’s numbers (through November 2015) in

Read More
Adjudication

Alcohol consumption is legal (if you are of age) and it is perfectly acceptable and normal in most social settings, right? So why is it a potential issue for those who want or already have a security clearance? Alcohol affects each individual a bit differently, but when someone drinks excessively

Read More
Security Clearance Process

Agencies across DoD and the Federal government should take note of DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Personnel Security Program and how they provide customer service to their cleared population and applicants. Their program appears well organized, user friendly, and provides easy to find information about each stage of the

Read More
Security Clearance Jobs

Grumblings from the field about DOD agencies denying contractors access to facilities and/or classified information because their investigations are out of scope has elicited a response from the Director for Defense Intelligence. This issue was addressed in a December 7, 2016 memorandum issued by the Office of the Undersecretary of

Read More