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.

Obtaining Security Clearance

The Bond Amendment disqualifies anyone from being granted a security clearance if they were convicted of a crime that resulted in being incarcerated for one year or more. There is, however, a provision for a waiver if mitigating information is presented in accordance with national security adjudicative guidelines. A recent

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Background Investigations

Public trust positions are those which carry out duties that do not require access to classified national security information but do have other duties that could cause moderate or high risk damage to other individuals or the agency they are working for. A recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals

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Background Investigations

I noticed a few entry level background investigators positions being advertised by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA). This is a part of their planned multi-year growth in personnel and resources. Once fully staffed DCSA will have a mix of 13,000 government and contractor employees supporting the DoD and

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Security Clearance Denial

A recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals cases involving the misuse of information technology caught my eye because the applicant argued his former employer’s investigation had no merit because he had never been investigated by any law enforcement agency or charged with any offense, therefore it was not really

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