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 many security clearance appeal cases the applicant is denied eligibility based on withholding information or not being entirely candid. Take for instance, marijuana use. The applicant says he last used three years ago when they actually used it three weeks ago and now, they failed a pre-employment drug test. Well,

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Security Clearance Process

The adjudicative guidelines for national security investigations are applied the same across the board. It matters not whether it is for a Secret or Top Secret clearance. The additional checks and information gathered for the Top Secret is reviewed the same as for a Secret. Take for instance, smoking marijuana while you

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Security Clearance Denial

There are some security clearance appeals where you just gotta shake your head and wonder “what was this person thinking trying to apply for a cleared position?”. This particular Department of Energy (DOE) contractor appeal case is one of those. It goes to show that there are some people out

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Security Clearance Process

Currently, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) use three different primary forms (SF85, SF85P, and SF86) and one supplementary form (SF85P-S) for applicants to fill out for initiating background investigations. As a part of reform efforts, OPM has proposed using the Personnel

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