Security Clearance???

[BigGriffC12]

Hey just looking for some quick info from guys who are in the know..

I'm trying to gather information in reference to possibly going overseas, however, all the firefighting jobs require a security clearance.

I am a veteran, who has tried to obtain a security clearance in the past, however, I was denied and not sure why..

I can only speculate it was my less then favorable credit, or the fact that I didn't fill the packet out correctly(dotted Is and crossed Ts).

Just wondering if anyone can give me some insight as to what hills im going to have to climb to get this done..

thanks in advance..

[KB1OEV]

I have a DOD clearance for my non firefighting job.

I don't know about bad credit, but if you have a lot of debt then you may be denied a clearance. This is because payment of your debts could be used as leverage to obtain information from you.

Criminal history, overseas contacts or any amount of time spent in "certain countries" will also keep you from getting a clearance.

[BigGriffC12]

Thanks bro, I can deff. see how having alot of debt can screw you now.

[911brute]

credit problems,criminal record, even civil record like restraining orders etc...just to name a few.

[thc030]

Gentlemen,

As a firefighter in Iraq or Afghanistan you only need a NACI clearance, that's a national agency clearance with inquiries. This is easy to obtain. They will pull a credit report, criminal record, and check that your previous jobs are what you say they are for dates and title.

It allows you to have issues on financials. You can have foreclosures, outstanding debts, etc... You just have to show you are addressing them, paying on them, or have contact with them to start paying them. So they can still be issues, but it's easily accepted with this clearance.

This takes sometimes up to 6 months before its approved. But no worry,you still get to go to your job as they are doing the investigation. It took me almost 6 months before I got the letter saying I could get my CAC card and my clearance was approved... But I have lived outside the us for the last 10 years, and also visited many countries..Iran, Vietnam, china, north korea, Cuba...etc... But these didn't prevent me from getting a clearance. I even worked in some of these countries.

So no worry about the clearance if you only require a NACI.

Now asst chief and above required a secret clearance for Iraq and Afghanistan. This is completely different. For these jobs they crack down much harder. You need to be paying on all your outstanding debts. And they will also call references and maybe do interviews as well. This is harder to get. No criminal record, no outstanding issues like warrants or bills, child support payments, your not paying on, you can be delinquent provided you are addressing them and the company that holds the debt is working with you to resolve it.

This clearance may give you issues if you haven't addressed your problems.

I hope this puts a better perspective on the clearances for you.

[thorocotomy]

<<SNIP>> Now asst chief and above required a secret clearance for Iraq and Afghanistan. This is completely different. For these jobs they crack down much harder. You need to be paying on all your outstanding debts. And they will also call references and maybe do interviews as well. This is harder to get. No criminal record, no outstanding issues like warrants or bills, child support payments, your not paying on, you can be delinquent provided you are addressing them and the company that holds the debt is working with you to resolve it.

This clearance may give you issues if you haven't addressed your problems.

Great advice!!

Clearances come down to trustworthiness plain and simply and most of the time the process is transparent to the person being investigated.

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) is you can forget about lying on your SF-86/EQUIP. Once your clearance request is received at the Office of Personnel Mgmt (OPM) your credit is run, your school records are requested (if you are within a certain age bracket), and your local (for every place you have lived) and federal criminal reports are requested. Be upfront and honest on the request and if there are questions an investigator will contact you about it. DO NOT omit stuff hoping they wont catch it.

That said, the most common reasons for someone to be denied a Secret are: a) money issue (ie: having too great a debt to income ratio, repossession, bankruptcy, too many late payments, credit cards maxed out) and b) omission of information (ie: speeding tickets (yes everyone gets them so why lie about it), bad checks, misdemeanors or felonies (to clear up the misinformation that was posted on another thread here, a felony or 3 is not an automatic bar to receiving a clearance (confidential, secret or TS) - its how you handle your life after that bad decision(s) and the time frame whatever activities you were involved in took place that will be the deciding factors here. You arent expected to be perfect but you are expected to make an amens for your failure in judgment.)) Other reasons for denial may include: drinking issues, unexplained foreign travels or close relationships with people in countries which may or may not be in the good graces of US foreign policy (Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Iraq to name a few), and/or moving too many times over a short time period.

If you have been turned down and were not contacted that means you either outright tried to pull the wool over their eyes (lied), you were honest and you have a serious issue with being reliable (see above), or something in your past leads the adjudicator (the person making the decision about your clearance) to believe your past could be leveraged against you.

A Secret is active for 10 years with a reinvestigation required in the last year to maintain currency. My advice to those applying for one, save that SF86 so you don't have to rack your brain housing group to remember dates, places lived, and references.

Most of you will never need a TS but in the interest of thoroughness, all the above applies as well as an investigator conducting interviews of your neighbors, co-workers, friends, classmates, teachers, etc... These clearances will always include a rather lengthy interview of the individual undergoing the process with questions posed about any/everything the OPM investigator is unsure of or has a question about. Anything that can be leveraged against you will be questioned: questionable relationships with the opposite/same sex; friendships with questionable characters, comments made by your "friends" or neighbors with regards to parties, drinking (too much shows a total lack of self-control), grades in school, traffic violations, etc...

A TS is only good for 5 years.

Remember, at the end of the day clearances come down to trustworthiness.

HTH,

Thor