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.

Adjudication

In applying the Whole-Person Concept, an administrative judge or adjudicator must evaluate an applicant’s eligibility for a security clearance by considering the totality of the applicant’s conduct and all relevant circumstances. You will see this verbiage written in all of the case summaries by Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals judges.

Read More
Security Clearance Process

Increasingly I come across background investigations where the applicant fills out the Questionnaire for National Security Positions (SF-86) and they fail to list required information in the police record section of the form. As a result, the investigation is conducted, information is found that contradicts the applicant’s answers to the

Read More
Security Clearance Process

ClearanceJobs.com teamed up with the Intelligence and National Security Foundation (INSF) to analyze why there is so much confusion among the younger population about drug use, specifically marijuana, and current government policies. Last month, they released a white paper, “(Uncleared) and Confused: Drug Use Confusion Trips Up Young People” that revealed 1

Read More
Obtaining Security Clearance

Security clearance reform over the past few years have helped lower the length of time it takes to complete the required national security background investigation. Latest metrics published by the Defense Security and Counterintelligence Agency (DCSA) show Tier 5 investigations for Top Secret taking an average 100 days or less to complete

Read More