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

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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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

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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

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