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 Denial

In one of the more unusual Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Hearing and Appeals cases, a DOE contractor had his clearance eligibility revoked due to concerns about psychological conditions and misuse of information technology. The contractor subsequently appealed – below are the highlights of the case. The contractor had

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Security Clearance Process

The Defense Counterintelligence Agency (DCSA) has implemented several corrective measures to tackle the growing background investigation inventory which has increased the time in getting them completed and closed out. DCSA stood up a “Tiger Team” to identify the constraints and factors that have led to the increase, and they came

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Security Clearance Process

When you see the word “cosmic” the first thing that usually comes to mind would be something to do with outer space, right? In the security clearance world Cosmic Top Secret is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) equivalent for a U.S. Top Secret security clearance or classified information. The

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Security Clearance Process

In an effort to ensure the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) security clearance vetting process for political appointees remains based on established national security adjudicative guidelines and is not abused by executive power, House representatives introduced legislation called the Security Clearance Review Act. If passed, it would require political appointees to

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