Update on DoD Continuous Evaluation Alert Statistics

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency’s Vetting Risk Operations Center (VROC) reported as of June 2019  they have enrolled around 1,347,000 security clearance holders into their Continuous Evaluation (CE) Program. This CE population includes contractors, federal civilians, and members of all four branches of the military. Since getting on its feet in FY 2017, the VROC received 81,260 CE alerts thus far. Below is the breakdown of the types of issues concerned:

–          Financial Considerations = 30,858 (55%)

–          Criminal Conduct = 14,426 (26%)

–          Alcohol Consumption = 5,149 (9%)

–          Drug Involvement = 4,204 (8%)

–          Sexual Behavior = 813 (2%)

–          Personal Conduct = 9 (<1%)

–          Allegiance to the U.S. = 183 (<1%)

I find it interesting that “Allegiance to the U.S.” had so many alerts considering not one Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case in the past four years involved this guideline. Another interesting observation is the fact no alerts fell under foreign preference or foreign influence guidelines. Here are some other metrics posted by the VROC during the last National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee (NISPPAC) meeting:

–          Number of Deferred Periodic Reinvestigations = 36,586

–          Interim Clearances Processed = 72,539

–          Average Number of Days to Grant Interim = 15

Changes and updates in policy and security clearance processing continue to be in flux and the transition of the background investigation process from NBIB to DCSA in is full swing. As many on this site have noted, it seems the backlog has swung from background investigations over to the adjudication side of the process. That’s where the real focus should be.