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

I ran across this Office of Inspector General case regarding a Department of Interior employee who was able to lie and cajole his way into getting appointed to multiple positions with the DoD and other Federal agencies over the course of 21 years. His positions included stints with: U.S. Army;

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Background Investigations

During the House Oversight Committee hearing on security process improvements members heard DoD and OPM Chief Information Officers and the Acting OPM Director present the current “State of the Union” so to speak, on the status of background investigation process improvements. Unfortunately, most of the committee members focused on Presidential

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Security Clearance Denial

In a recent Defense Office of Hearing and Appeals case a longtime government contractor had his clearance reinstatement request denied because he was living with his Mexican-born girlfriend who was in the U.S. illegally. I know you are asking yourself right now “what’s the big deal here?” There is a

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Career Advice

I like a good espionage book just as much as next guy and I recently finished reading “Tom Clancy: True Faith and Allegiance” written by Mark Greaney, who continued the series after Clancy passed away in 2013. Much to my surprise, the main premise of the book centered on the

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