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

First quarter statistics from January through the end of March from the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals (DOHA) Board shows they heard a total of 150 clearance denial appeals. Financial issues continue to outpace all other issues combined. Below is a breakdown by adjudicative category of the issues involved

Read More
Obtaining Security Clearance

Facility Security Officers (FSO) and Security Managers, if you haven’t already done so, you should take note of the impending transition of the Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) over to the Defense Information System for Security (DISS) next month. The Defense Security Service has published a document called “Preparing for

Read More
Security Clearance Denial

In the Illegal Drug Use section of the SF-86 it asks “In the last seven years, have you intentionally engaged in the misuse of prescription drugs, regardless of whether or not the drugs were prescribed for you or someone else?” Clearance holders and applicants should pay attention to the wording

Read More
Security Clearance Process

The Defense Security Service’s Personnel Security Management and Oversight-Industry (PSMO-I) is responsible for processing contractor security clearances for industry and overseeing continuous evaluation and insider threat programs on behalf of Department of Defense (DoD) and 32 other Federal agencies who participate in the National Industrial Security Program (NISP). In their

Read More