background investigation
Understanding the Role of a Security Clearance Adjudicator
It has been a while since I last posted on the adjudicator role in the background investigation process. Although much has changed as far as the agency in charge (NBIB), types of investigations, timelines and who is conducting them, adjudication has pretty much remained standard. There has been a push within DoD
Drug Use and a Department of Energy Security Clearance
As we all know, illegal drug use is one of the disqualifiers for being granted a security clearance, but it can be mitigated depending on several factors. Here is a tale of two drug users who applied for a security clearance with the Department of Energy. Case #1: This applicant
What Are Your Chances of Winning a Security Clearance Appeal? Not Good in 2018
The Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals has started 2018 off with a bang in hearing twenty-four appeal cases, of which twenty-two clearance denial decisions were upheld, one denial decision reversed to clearance granted, and one case remanded back to the original adjudicator for a procedural review. As has historically
Security Clearance Process is Back on GAO’s “High Risk List”
Back in 2005 the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) put the government-wide security clearance process on its “High Risk” list of federal areas in need of a desperate overhaul. It stayed on the list until 2011. Last week the GAO, foregoing the wait on its regularly scheduled update in early