Effect of Bankruptcy

[Guest ccg15colby]

How does having a bankruptcy on your record look, when you are trying to get a security clearance for the Air Force. (Either a Secret or Top Secret clearance) Thanks for the help.

[Guest stu]

I'm OTS route, was selected in January, and did the interview for my TS three weeks ago. In general, they are very concerned with your financial history. I'm not sure how bad bankruptcy would hurt someone's chances of getting a clearance, but it certainly won't help. They'll definitely want to know all the details. After selection (among other things) they'll run a credit check so something like a bankruptcy would be out in the open well before the interview. Time since the incident as well as good credit behavior afterwards can only help.

The following website has some good info on clearances; there is some specific info about the financial end of things.

https://usmilitary.about.com/cs/generalinfo/a/security_3.htm

[Guest ynotminot]

I just put in my TS paperwork a few weeks ago, with a less than stellar track record...the Intel shop said the key is to show that you aren't hiding anything...so anything that looked a little "out of the norm" (ie run-in's with the law, unknown addresses, communist affiliations, etc) I added remarks to so I could explain it. I'm not saying that adding remarks will guarantee you a TS, but it should help.