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

Many on this forum have described their own personal history of illegal drug use and then ask for an opinion on how long they have to wait to have a chance at getting granted a security clearance. No one can answer that with certainty as many factors are involved and

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Security Clearance Denial

The Department of Energy (DOE) Personnel Security Program has a reputation as one of the better ones across the Federal government. Background investigators actually prefer working DOE cases because of the level of professionalism, courtesy, and cooperation from the applicants, their co-workers, supervisors, and even neighbors. DOE ingrains security awareness into their

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Security Clearance Process

Facility Security Officers (FSO) and government agency security managers track the status of security clearances and applications for hundreds of employees and new hires. This can be pretty challenging with all of the moving pieces involving various data systems, agencies, and processes. DoD’s Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS), which has

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Adjudication

Security clearance adjudicators are trained to review background investigations, apply adjudicative guidelines and criteria, and make a decision as to whether granting an individual eligibility for a clearance is in compliance with the guidelines and in the interest of national security. New adjudicators undergo extensive on the job training with

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