Security Clearance Continuous Evaluation Net Catches Some Bad Fish

For a long while now security clearance reform proponents  have talked about using continuous evaluation processes in lieu of 5 or 10 year reinvestigations to find and weed out those clearance holders who might be less than worthy of having access to classified information. The Defense Security Service (DSS) recently announced that it was adding 500,000 more DoD employees (military and civilian) to their pilot continuous evaluation program, largely due to initial successes with the current pilot population. DSS Director Steve Payne briefed industry professionals about current successes, relating that 48 cleared individuals in the pilot lost their eligibility when scans of Federal, DoD, and private sector data sources conducted under CE revealed issues that would not have been caught until the next reinvestigation was due.

Additionally, a number of other clearance holders had to answer questions and provide mitigation to inquiries from commanders and managers about issues uncovered in CE checks. Director Payne also noted that false flags were run down before any actions were taken to ensure that the individual on whom the flag popped up on was actually the same individual that held the clearance. Following in DoD’s footsteps, all other government agencies are also required to have a CE program for their cleared population. It appears the government has made headway in this part of security clearance reform. Hopefully, it will carry over into other aspects that have caused enormous consternation.