Security Clearance questions

[gimmeaplane]

If there's an URGENT need (like, Osama will escape Derka-derka-stan if you don't have a clearance NOW), there are some things your chain can do to speed up the process. Otherwise, sit back, relax, and contemplate your navel.

18 months is pretty average lately.

[Guest delta]

I found out today that my secret clearance has been completed. The intel guy at my unit said it only took 3 months from start to finish. He said it's the fastest clearance he's ever seen been done. However, there was an expedite put on the packet so that helped out a lot. Now the Air Force Central Adjudication Facility should give their approval sometime in the next few days and I'll be good to go. It was some good news to brighten my day since my car got stolen yesterday. I guess that's why you don't buy a Honda Civic. They're the number one stolen car in America. Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone else.

Later.......

[Guest jk227]

Once my Secret was completed, all I needed for it to be official was the final approval from the Adjudicator. Though I was told it should be done fairly quickly, it was not final until 6 months later. So yeah, sometimes it happens quick and other times it is rather drawn out. Just be patient but continue to talk with your security manager so they can also stay updated throughout the process and not forget about you.

[Guest sleepy]

Thread revival!

After an occurance at work today, I'm wondering a few things.

1) Are background checks initiated without informing a person? (That was probably dumb, but bare with me.)

2) Will inspectors disclose who they are or will they sometimes meet you incognito?

3) I have not yet enlisted, although from what I've been told, I'm guessing that will go down soon. Would an investigation be conducted prior to enlisting? FWIW, I'll be in the AMS/UPT pipeline.

Strange happenings today, and it doesn't quite add up. I'm trying to figure out if I was being investigated or if this guy was just a nut job. Thanks, folks!

[backseatdriver]

Everytime I've spoken with an investigator (for both my own investigation and those of some friends), they always have identified themselves and shown me identification if I was speaking to them in person.

[Guest hockeymv]

Every time you sit down with an investigator from the Office of Personnel Management, they are required to identify themselves and present credentials. However, there may be other agencies out there doing clearances, but from what I understand, OPM is handling many of the DoD clearances these days.

One of the old heads here may know better about other agencies, but a friend of mine from college works for OPM. It is SOP for them to properly ID themselves and be very forthcoming about what they are asking you about, their credentials, and contact info for any follow up questions concerns you have. I even had a supervisor call to check on one of his agents and his first question was did the agent properly identify himself.

Dunno what happened to you, but it sounds fishy or ridiculously sloppy. I'd bring it up to someone in your unit and look for guidance from there.

Good luck!

[M2]

First, go check out this web site by the Defense Security Service. Loads of answers there. You might also want to check out this web site, which does a pretty good overview of the process. Then do a search on this forum using the term 'security clearance,' a lot of questions have been already answered.

Once you've looked through all that, contact DSS and ask them about what happened. You will get the right answers from them.

Good luck!

Cheers! M2

[Toro]

Originally posted by sleepy:

Are background checks initiated without informing a person?

They won't inform you per se, but they don't start an investigation until you submit your paperwork. So, since you're technically starting the investigation by turning in the SF-86, you shouldn't be surprised when someone starts asking (though this could happen quite some time after you turn the papers in).

Will inspectors disclose who they are or will they sometimes meet you incognito?

Every investigator I have talked to (I estimate 15-20, mostly for other people) has shown me an identification before we started talking.

[Guest sleepy]

Thanks guys. The more I learn, I think this guy was just a loon. Too many questions about me, where I live, my family, where they worked, etc. My answers provided nothing that he couldn't learn by asking any random bum at the airport here. I figured he was an airline guy who flew with family, so I asked him if he flew. "Oh yes!" he said. When I asked him what equipment he was on, he said a 172. What a weirdo! I got his N-number, so I now know who he is and where he lives, which is (I think) more than he knows about me. I'm definitely going to probe a little deeper to find out who this nutjob is, so that he can be returned to his home of residence.

[silverwolf0911]

Sleepy, something similiar happened to my family before.

Some guy kept asking everyone in my family (grandparents, uncles, aunts, dad, mom, brothers etc etc) for info about one of my uncles.

A very rude and annoying man. Called everyday..left messages.. bothered me and my father when we were at work. Somehow got our cell numbers and called us at very bad times.

To this day, I still don't know what he as up to... And no, my uncle (the one being asked about) was not in the military or apply for any clearances..

[Guest bermwewjan]

Hi All,

I am a dual citizen (US and UK) and will be going to FT this summer. Does anyone else have/had dual citizenship, at what point does this become and issue? When are you asked to renouce it, if at all? Does this only become an issue with higher security clearances above secret?

Thanks!

[Guest ShortThrow]

I would also like to know the answer to this. A friend at my det is working on his dual cit. with here and Iran...He is really antsy about it, but no one has been able to give him a straight answer.

[brabus]

Working on dual citizenship with Iran? Does this guy even read the news? I don't think it's gonna matter if he wants pilot or finance...don't think he'll even have the slightest chance of getting a clearance with Iranian citizenship.

[Guest Navtastic]

Had a guy in my flight at OTS who is a dual citizen (US & UK). No renouncing citizenship. No passport shredding. He's an ABM, which is a rated job that eventually requires a TS clearance, too.

Ask someone who can give you a real answer.

[brabus]

It's gotta depend on the other country...UK is obviously fine...Iran, yeah right.

[Guest Chairborne Ranger]

I'm still a dual citizen of Belgium and US. I had to sign a memo saying I was WILLING to renounce my Belgium citizenship (still have it). But I did have to destroy my Belgian passport. However, this was part of the TS investigation so if you're just looking for a secret clearance then you're OK. (dont think you have to destroy your passport)

[Guest Blackfox4242]

Okay folks. I've got another real good question for you all.

Here's the deal. Commitment aside (I've only dated the girl 3 months), what if I married my Czech citizen girlfriend before I apply to OTS? I've heard nasty rumors that foreign nationals as brides might limit your security clearance.

Also, the spouse being a U.S. citizen or not, does having a spouse before OTS limit chances of that pilot slot?

*The game plan might be to wed after I have the clearance and pilot slot. Any reprocussions?*

*Oh, and please keep the jesting commentary about 3 months and marriage to a minimum. This is pure curiosity... for the time being.*

... .... .... .... yes..., she is hot and says funny things like "we go to kitchen" and "you cannot say those things in here!" if you are not dating a Czech girl, I highly recommend you try one.

Night!

[ 27. April 2006, 04:08: Message edited by: Lt. Moody ]

[Toro]

I can't tell you for sure how it will affect your clearance other than to say it'll take you longer than the average Joe to go through the process. I don't know anybody married to a Czech, but I know several people married to Brits, one to an Aussie, one to a Vietnamese girl, and one to an Irish girl (not talking Irish-American, but rather needed a Visa to get into this country kind of thing). They all have clearances, but I'm sure there was some extra paperwork and interviews that went along with it.

As far as trying to get your clearance and then get married, it really won't matter. As soon as you get married to an out-of-towner, your security manager is likely going to have your status updated and you're going to have to resubmit all your paperwork anyway.

[EvilEagle]

A guy in my old squadron married a Czech girl. It caught the security managers wrath because he just turned up married one day, no paperwork before-hand or anything.

It might make it tough on you, but be upfront about it. I've been dating an English girl for a couple of years and it's been ass pain in the security side of the house, but it's better to let them know about it up front. They will find out.

[Guest cbire880]

As far as the application process goes, they don't start the security clearance until after you have been selected. It shouldn't affect the process or your chances of getting selected. It will slow down the clearance process though. Although that hasn't been moving fast anyway these days.

[Guest Hoser]

My wife was born in Poland, and became a naturalized US citizen after she turned 18 (and no, she wasn't my wife before she was 18).

When I updated by EPSQ, I had to supply a bunch of additional information (naturalization dates, locations of the swearing in ceremony, etc) but nothing too terribly painful.

Hoser

[Guest thegotoguy]

I agree with Toro...it's really not going to be that big of a deal but there might be a little extra digging that they do. My wife is from S. America and it didn't seem too much of a hassle even though she isn't a US citizen, etc.

I don't know your situation and Im not going to tell anybody what they should do with their lives, but Id be more worried about only knowing her 3 months and you aren't even in the Air Force yet. Your going to be travelling quite a bit depending on what career field you go into. I'd test the waters a little bit, there's a lot of fish in the sea and latinas know how to treat their señor....hahaha.

[Guest Rainman A-10]

Originally posted by EvilEagle:

A guy in my old squadron married a Czech girl. It caught the security managers wrath because he just turned up married one day, no paperwork before-hand or anything.

Evil Eagle makes a great point and indirectly answers your question.

The amount of asspain will depend more on your access to classified information than it will on the level of your clnc. Lots of people have TS/SCI clearances. Far fewer have an indoc and access to TS/SCI information. You will need to be very careful about letting people know what goes on in your life, including dating foreign nationals, once you are dealing with info above secret on a regular basis. You must take this seriously if you happen to get a job where a TS/SCI is actually required to get to your desk/jet/target. EE is right, they will find out and they will be pissed if they don't find out from you.

Time for some big boy talk about girls...

As for when to get married, that's up to you. You might want to consider staying single forever if you think you might not be full up enough to get a pilot slot at OTS if you're married. The marriage thing is serious business and, IMHBAO, needs to take priority over everything else in your life. Best advice, marry someone who can take care of herself, your money and your children for months on end without any help from you and you'll have a great career in the military. You can expect to have a short career or a short marraige (or both) if you marry a needy person. Don't get trapped by how hot she looks now or how great she is in bed or how much money her Daddy has. Think about where you will be 40-50 years from now.

BL: Your marriage is supposed to be forever. Your USAF career will be less than half of your married life. Prioritize properly.

[M2]

OK, so some legit advice would be to talk with your security folks long before you tie any knots. The worse thing you can do is get married in a drive-thru in Vegas by "Elvis" and then show back up base hand-in-hand expecting everything to be hunky-dorry. If you have an SCI clearance, your SSO will know what to do as you won't be the first person to marry a foreigner.

If you get married before OTS it shouldn't be a problem, you won't need anything more than a secret (collateral) clearance to get you through UPT. If you require higher clearances, it may take a bit longer with your Czech wife, but like many have said, it is easily done as long as you are up front about everything. In other words, don't lie as they will find out and that will put you in deep shit.

And congrats in advance if you do marry this girl; I spent a little over six months in the Slovak Republic on a military liaison team and I did see a lot of beautiful women there! However, I was already engaged and my future bride had my motorcycle hostage, so I had to behave!

Cheers! M2

[Guest BertCove]

Has anyone been denied a security clearance or know of someone who has??