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

Out of ninety-three security clearance appeal decisions made by the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) so far in 2020, sixty-eight of them involved financial issues. Failure to file or pay Federal and state taxes, delinquent credit cards accounts, collections, and a historical pattern of irresponsibility continue to plague

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Background Investigations

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) issued Federal Investigations Notice (FIN) 20-01 announcing the release of the revised Standard Form 85P used for Public Trust background investigations. The new form will ask applicants to provide more information in areas like foreign travel, criminal records and arrests, and credit history. Up to

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Background Investigations

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently published a joint Executive Correspondence (EC) fact sheet called ”Transforming Federal Personnel Vetting: Measures to Expedite Reform and Further Reduce the Federal Government’s Background Investigation Inventory.” The EC outlines measures agencies are to

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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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