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.

Obtaining Security Clearance

It is highly recommended for security clearance applicants and current clearance holders to review their online digital footprint. This ensures anything they may have posted when they were young and foolish, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or engaged in an unhealthy relationship that ended poorly with revenge photos

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Security Clearance Denial

This particular Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case was certainly an interesting read just because of the audacity of the applicant in thinking he could keep a security clearance in the first place. The Department of Defense initially granted him eligibility in 2018. In May 2021 he completed

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Security Clearance Denial

Last year, the number of security clearance denials involving illegal drug use increased by 36% from the previous year. Quite a few of the denials involved security clearance holders who mistakenly thought they could partake in marijuana use because it was legal in their state. So far, 2024 is starting

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Security Clearance Denial

I ran across a rather unusual Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case involving serious criminal conduct occurring in 2007. In most cases, the time elapsed since then would have mitigated the concerns, but in this particular instance, they did not. Here are the highlights of the case. In

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