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 Process

In a recent interview with Security Management (ASIS Online), Charlie Phalen, Director of the National Background Investigations Bureau, outlined the challenges NBIB inherited from OPM’s Federal Investigative Services and what the focus is going forward. Phalen stated “there were two big main focuses. One is, there is this backlog of

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Obtaining Security Clearance

There has been much discussion about what constitutes a foreign national contact when filling out the SF-86 or what the reporting requirements are under continuous evaluation. Opinions are diverse and open to a matter of interpretation. However, a State Department employee who had a Top Secret security clearance went a

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Background Investigations

There is still a lot of confusion out there about what type of investigation is needed for a particular position and whether it results in a security clearance. Do you know if the job you applied for is low risk with no clearance, public trust with no clearance, or a

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Security Clearance Denial

The first case heard by the Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals Board in 2017 involved issues regarding handling protected information, misuse of IT systems, and personal conduct. The crux of this case stemmed from the applicant’s continued disregard for following company instructions not to access classified information that he

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