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 Jobs

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is responsible for enforcing compliance with the Controlled Substances Act, thus, their threshold for tolerance of illegal or experimental drug use for job applicants is much lower than other federal agencies, and this includes the use of marijuana or THC products. Currently, the DEA timeline

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Security Clearance Process

With periodic reinvestigations gone by the wayside and replaced by Continuous Evaluation, it is even more important for security clearance holders to understand what their self-reporting requirements are in accordance with Security Executive Agent Directive (SEAD) 3. The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency’s (DCSA) training branch, the Center for Development

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Background InvestigationsSecurity Clearance Denial

It is one thing to solicit prostitutes for sex in a place where it is legal to do so. It is quite another to assist in bringing them into the country for the purpose of working as a prostitute. That is exactly what one defense contractor got caught doing by

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Security Clearance Denial

In one of the more unusual Defense Office of Hearing an Appeals (DOHA) cases, the contractor, who had possessed clearance eligibility since 1997, had it revoked by the DoD in 2019 due to security concerns involving sexual behavior, illegal drug use, and personal conduct. He subsequently submitted a written appeal to

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