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

As a follow-on to a previous article in which a former Navy contractor was found guilty and sentenced to prison for lying on his background investigation application and to FBI agents, another similar case just finished in federal court involving a former State Department contractor. Zaldy Sabino was sentenced to seven years

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Security Clearance Denial

In the national security world, ignorance or mistake of law is generally not an excuse for failing to abide by legal obligations. This opinion has been established long ago by appeals board judges in upholding security clearance denials. There are various adjudicative guidelines where claiming ignorance of the rules or

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Obtaining Security Clearance

On the Questionnaire for National Security Positions (SF-86) in the section labeled “Penalties for Inaccurate or False Statements” it states: The U.S. Criminal Code (title 18, section 1001) provides that knowingly falsifying or concealing a material fact is a felony which may result in fines and/or up to five (5) years imprisonment.

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Security Clearance Process

In the security clearance world we all know reporting adverse information or suspicious behavior for clearance holders is a requirement, but does it happen? Based on my own experience I would say the odds are 50-50 depending on who is involved and the potential impact. A recent study conducted by

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