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.

Background Investigations

I recently read a Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case where a DoD contractor was denied continued eligibility for a security clearance because of a history of illegal drug use (marijuana). Nowadays marijuana use is not a big deal as long as you have been off it for at least

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Adjudication

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Center for Development of Security Excellence (CDSE) is highlighting May 2022 as Mental Health Awareness Month and developed some statistical and informational products to help security clearance holders understand they do not need to fear losing their security clearance if they seek assistance

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Security Clearance Process

Security clearance reform has been the hot topic over the past few years with implementation of Continuous Evaluation (CE)  and Continuous Vetting (CV) programs taking the place of periodic reinvestigations, and more recently, the impending roll out of Trusted Workforce 2.0. One of the more interesting changes coming down the pike will be

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Security Clearance Denial

Trust but verify is an advisable motto for companies who are looking to hire highly qualified candidates who can also get a security clearance. Doing a little bit of fact checking up front will save headaches later on because in today’s day and age, it is easy for job applicants

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