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

The national security adjudicative guideline for allegiance is rarely used in security clearance denials, in fact, I have only come across it used less than a handful of times over the years. Now, one has popped up in a Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals case for a defense contractor. The contractor

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Security Clearance Process

Last month, bipartisan legislation was submitted in the House of Representatives that would prevent federal agencies from denying an applicant a job or security clearance based on their current or prior marijuana use. The bill would also give those previously denied jobs or a clearance a chance to appeal that

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Adjudication

It is common practice for courts to allow individuals who are charged with a felony or serious misdemeanor offense to plea bargain down to a lesser offense just to keep the justice system moving and to avoid long drawn-out trials. For example, someone gets arrested for aggravated assault with intent

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Career Advice

The National Security Agency (NSA) is in the middle of hiring 3,000 new employees, the largest growth in the NSA’s history. Why? Because of a combination of factors. First, their workforce is aging and many of their employees are looking at retiring in the next one to five years. Second,

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