security clearance

When you are security-cleared, everyday life events like vacations, new friends and neighbors, and personal relationships can have an impact on national security. Take a few minutes and watch our very own Emelyne Smith discuss the many seemingly common activities that are of concern to the U.S. government and those

An article in The Houston Chronicle detailed a two-year forbidden foreign love affair that got a Houston engineer six months in federal prison. The engineer wasn’t accused of spying, but was accused of and pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements. Gregory W. Blackard, 38, was sentenced for hiding

According to a May 25, 2009 article at FederalTimes.com, Fifty-three federal and contractor falsified security clearance background investigations since 2005. . . . All of them have either been fired or left their jobs, and six were prosecuted within the last year for criminal misconduct. The investigators worked directly or

On 20 May 2009 the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report (GAO-09-400) on Department of Defense (DoD) security clearances, announcing, “Comprehensive timeliness reporting, complete clearance documentation, and quality measures are needed to further improve the clearance process.” According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and DoD, the top