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.

Career Advice

I like a good espionage book just as much as next guy and I recently finished reading “Tom Clancy: True Faith and Allegiance” written by Mark Greaney, who continued the series after Clancy passed away in 2013. Much to my surprise, the main premise of the book centered on the

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Security Clearance Process

We all know about having to self-report information as a security clearance holder, but what about reporting on another clearance holder? This scenario is played out almost every day:  another individual with whom you work has a security clearance and you become aware of some conduct that could be an

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Career Advice

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is one of the biggest government civil service and contractor employers after the DoD. Many of the jobs offered by the various DHS components require eligibility for either public trust or national security positions. I compiled a list of the various sites that describe the

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Background Investigations

Now that your background investigation was completed by OPM and favorably adjudicated by the DOD CAF, DSS, or another Federal agency, you can start work and forget about it until your next periodic update, right? Wrong! I always recommend requesting a copy of your completed background investigation so you have

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