DCSA Implements Corrective Measures to Tackle Increased Investigation Inventory and Timeliness

The Defense Counterintelligence Agency (DCSA) has implemented several corrective measures to tackle the growing background investigation inventory which has increased the time in getting them completed and closed out. DCSA stood up a “Tiger Team” to identify the constraints and factors that have led to the increase, and they came up with the below recommendations, some of which were already being implemented.

• Continue the increase hiring of government field investigators (they already have increased by 13%)
• Continue the hiring of contractor investigative staff (500+ already in the pipeline)
• Increase authorized overtime for Federal investigators (has increased 70% this FY)
• Continue to authorize overtime for quality reviewers (past 4 months helped close out cases in a more timely manner)
• New policy adopted in March 2024 allowing for telephonic/virtual interviews has helped timeliness
• Collaboration with the FBI on implementing a new tool that prioritizes the required FBI Name Check item for investigations (this check was causing delays due to the FBI being inundated with requests)

On the increased hiring of field investigators, keep in mind, new investigators require extensive training and mentoring until they become fully productive, and that will take time. Overall, DCSA seems to be moving forward positively with security clearance and background investigation reforms. This coming year will be an even busier time for security professionals with the Presidential Transition Team vetting, Continuous Vetting for Public Trust workers, and Trusted Workforce 2.0 implementation.