No Security Clearance for YOU!

by Robert Koehler on July 2, 2007

in Asides, Completely Random Crap

At a time when the United States needs all the language experts it can get, this is pretty perplexing.

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Brendon Carr July 2, 2007 at 4:55 pm: No, it’s not. The author of the sob story you reference is a dual national citizen of the United States and some other, “friendly” NATO ally. Much of the material he would be expected to handle is not just Top Secret, not just compartmentalized, but also NOFORN — not to be released to foreign nationals. If he’s a foreign national as well as an American national, then he cannot handle the material he’s being enlisted for the express purpose of creating and handling.

Give up that French, Belgian, or UK citizenship, and the clearance becomes not a problem. Or less of a problem. If you’re applying for a Special Background Investigation and your parents aren’t citizens, there can be trouble.
2 jodi July 2, 2007 at 5:07 pm: If you’re applying for a Special Background Investigation and your parents aren’t citizens, there can be trouble.

I heard the same is true if you are married to a non-US citizen as well. I have a friend who is running into that problem as he navigates the process.
3 caliboy888 July 2, 2007 at 6:07 pm: Brendon’s right on the money. I’ve done some research on this topic for a law school paper I recently wrote on dual citizenship. Here are some links that provide a good overview on the issue:

http://www.expatsinitaly.com/c.....rence.html

http://www.sheldoncohen.com/pu.....luence.htm
4 MrChips July 2, 2007 at 8:14 pm: There are a number of problems with this person’s account:

1. His belief, or at least his statement, that being enlisted will fully utilize his language skill to the extent that the contractor jobs he spoke of would is disconcerting. The money is better for a reason. You actually do that job 24/7 rather than various other crap like making coffee, pick up garbage around base and doing security watch. I find it hard to believe that a person who wants to make as big an impact as they can would not see the value to their country in accepting higher paying jobs where the military is more likely to use you in that capacity.

2. Applying for a SECRET clearance with dual citizenship is tough enough. When the applying agency has to pay for a clearance investigation up front they are not going to fork out the 10K plus to initiate an investigation when the chance of approval is slim to none. For an SSBI the gig is even tougher to include immediate family members. Now you can get exceptions to policy but no agency is willing to wait the extraordinary amount of time that it takes DISCO to investigate such exceptions. For SCI the appropriate response of the initial investigating officer is “No.”

3. He never states his medical condition. Unless he’s a blind recon wannabee or hell bent on being a radioman with 2 hearing aids then there is almost always an MOS to be had with an appropriate medical waiver.

4. Why is only TS or SCI necessary? There are lots of linguist jobs at only the SECRET level. The proper course of action to be considered is to renounce his dual citizenship at his embassy and turn in his passport there. Then, sign an affidavit attesting to such and apply for an interim secret clearance through whatever contracting company and cite the 2000 Foreign Preference Security Policy amendment. He must be prepared to re-avow a statement of non aggression against the US in order to prevent the case being remanded to DOHA (Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals).

5. Just for reference: Executive Order 10865 outlines regulations for security in regards to contractors/industry.

Just to note: Rules regarding any clearance are conveyed only through Executive Orders and are subject only to the oversight of DOHA Administrative courts, never to Congress.
5 Nappunsaram July 2, 2007 at 10:52 pm: When I went through some of that government clearance stuff myself, I found it interesting that the most common reason for rejection was a bad credit rating or excessive debt. It makes you susceptible to bribery, which I guess makes sense until you think about how much debt you unavoidably accrue gaining your qualifications.

Questionable foreign contacts is one of the other biggest because it raises questions about loyalty, which runs in the same vein as having dual citizenship. The ironic thing is, usually the best way to learn a foreign language is to interact with the people who speak it.
6 globalvillageidiot July 3, 2007 at 7:31 am: Aren’t we also talking about the country with a military that would discharge Arabic, Farsi or Pashto speaking soldiers who are unable or unwilling to conceal being gay?

“Questionable foreign contacts is one of the other biggest because it raises questions about loyalty, which runs in the same vein as having dual citizenship. The ironic thing is, usually the best way to learn a foreign language is to interact with the people who speak it.”

Very ironic.
7 captbbq July 3, 2007 at 9:23 am: No tears shed from me. This guy turns up two good jobs, one as a contracotr, on for the government, and won’t stop crying about not getting into the army? He should count himself lucky as per what MrChips pointed out in 4.1.

He’s also quite presumptuous considering what he thinks of the CIA, and therefor I don’t think he’s cut out for that level in the intelligence world. That being said there are some very good and prestigious jobs to be had that aren’t necessarily at the CIA and thus don’t carry the “CIA stigma” but you have to go through CIA recruiters anyway to get to them, all for the not-so guilty salary of $45K a year. Looking at his background thats exactly where he would have gone too.

It’s almost a shame; no, it’s a shame he’s so qualified, yet so stupid.

Those guys, when they see someone they want in terms of expertice, really spend the time to work with someone on clearance issues as opposed to some specialist working in an S2 whose has a million other monkey hoops to jump though.
8 bluejax21 July 3, 2007 at 6:25 pm: All comments seem to be aligned with what I would say as well. There is usually good reason for the suspension, revocation, or unsuccessful adjudicaiton of an investigation. Aside from the occasional administrative snag which can hold up someone’s processing, most cases have a more than valid reason in the cases of denial. Given the sensitive accesses that clearances give, especially at the TS/SCI level, its better to reject a school taught ‘expert’ on Afghanistan than to allow him into the system, where the harm could far outweigh whatever benefit he thinks he could bring to the table.