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

There are some things just make you shake your head and wonder why? In the background investigation world, quite often it is the Department of State (DoS) who are involved in things that don’t quite pass the common sense test. Let me give you an example of a scenario I

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Security Clearance Denial

Many on this forum ask how long is long enough after the last use of illegal drugs. There is no set timeline for adjudicators to use. It depends on several factors: circumstances; age; type; recency; and probability of reoccurrence. A recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) case involved

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Background Investigations

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) took over the background investigation process from the National Background Investigations Bureau last October and has used the same billing rates for background investigations since fiscal year 2018, but there will be some modest changes starting in FY 2021. Here is the breakdown

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Security Clearance Denial

Three months ago no one could have imagined the situation the world finds itself in now. Many were looking forward to spring break, others were getting ready to file taxes, and life was normal on the local restaurant and bar scene. Now, most of the country is homebound, millions are

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