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.

Adjudication

Much ado is made about credit reports and how they are used in background investigations. Many misnomers are being perpetuated out there, so here is a quick and easy guide as to what information an adjudicator is looking for on a credit report and what may generate a flag or

Read More
Security Clearance Denial

There are many behaviors and disqualifying conduct under Guideline E: Personal Conduct that cover a multitude of areas which do not fit under other adjudicative guidelines. These include dishonesty, anger issues, employment history, falsification, vulnerability to coercion, and rules violations just to name a few. Here is the primary extract

Read More
Security Clearance Process

The Defense Security Service (DSS) published a job aid for security professionals and Facility Security Officers (FSO) to assist military and DoD civilian personnel in understanding what is in the Statement of Reasons (SOR) package and how to respond to a Letter of Intent (LOI) to deny eligibility for a

Read More
Security Clearance Denial

The Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) released their first batch of decisions for security clearance and public trust position denial appeals for 2019. Through the end of February, DOHA heard 83 appeals and as in previous years, financial issues continue to outpace all others followed by personal conduct,

Read More