If the clearance is for DoD…I agree Cal. A 3 letter agency with Poly? They can and do clear…eventually. With 370 slots, submitting extra candidates to ensure enough cleared…I got pretty good at reading the tea leaves for this particular agency. Over time I learned 12 to 18 months since last Marijuana use and a young person could clear. Same with drinking underage. Time mitigates most misconduct. So if a person said they would drink and now attest they have not in 18 months and are now 21? Likely clear barring other misconduct. Throw in non legal downloads? They’re honna have a steeper climb.
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Interesting. Have you seen a case similar to this where the subject said he would do X again? I haven’t run into that before. And surprisingly I haven’t run into illegal downloads either. Just about everything else though. Hopefully the OP comes back and tells us how his case shakes out.
I have. It was an interesting contract. They had what most would never believe were cleared functions: housekeeping, culinary, roads and grounds, automotive, warehousing, etc. They hired a lot of 18 year old candidates. At that age nobody is as savvy as they think they are. I saw it as mentoring, growing them. At first HR hated me as I eliminated 98% of all candidates, skilled or otherwise. But over time, hiring only outstanding candidates with strong finances, limited drug/alcohol use, no download issues, we turned around the contract
Far less disciplinary issues, or having them cleared secret, losing them at TS/SCI/Poly. It took tremendous effort, with weekly security briefings, follow ups, etc to get folks comfortable enough to report issues to me.
I would go over their financials to make sure they were caught up, in payment plans, etc. Our cleared rate went through the roof. From an abysmal 20% to 98%. HR previously worked security issues, had no clue about adjudicative issues and believed submitting high volumes of SF86s was the solution. My position was it clogged the system more than it already was, wasted months of investigator time, angered our very touchy and demanding client, and resulted in low award scores. After 2 years or so the tide changed and essentially every person I submitted…cleared. positions filled, terminations dropped off a cliff, security violations fell way back, and scores improved dramatically.
We were required to clear summer hires as well. They were tricky with recreational use issues, and downloads which was the topic and concern of the moment. In that era people were using all kinds of bit torrent sites, limewire, napster, etc before industry got their arms around the issue.
It was near impossible getting the download folks cleared. They would openly admit knowing it was not legal, saw it as victimless, and would continue. Hence me getting a good feel on this agency not clearing those candidates.
As for total honesty, admitting you continued drinking and intended to continue…vs telling a lie…I always encouraged truth as we were in poly positions. An average polygrapher can get a person to confess to hiding info. A highly skilled polygrapher can get you to confess stuff you never did or thought of. They are pschological manipulators extraordinaire. I had 4 total over 10 years. Each time was like going 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. You are emotionally spent.
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All very interesting. With experience like that, you are probably the closest thing to an adjudicator’s opinion this site has (since it seems like we never hear from any of them). Thanks for all the good info.
It helped having an awesome government boss who was previoysly Chief of their clearance division. Learned tremendously. She would take time to explain the logic. Many get wrapped around the axle of “its a minor crime” when the issue the lengths they went to trying to hide this behavior. 2 interviews, falsified a form, continue to try telling lies (at our site) under Poly. I also learned what getting an interview post two poly’s was about and how to send a person with the supporting documentation to help “clear” an issue.
Hi @Amberbunny2 can you follow up a bit more on the interview post two poly’s? Your input and knowledge is greatly appreciated.
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So we would have candidates called in for adjudicator meeting post 2 polys. I was responsible for arranging them and making sure company paid travel (previously HR ran this terribly and felt saving company money was more important than doing right by employees).
I would sit with the employee, let them know this is a good thing, not bad. Something isnt resolved, but dont interpret that as “failing.”
I worked hard to gain the trust of our people, but made clear they were not obligated to reveal anything to me. But if they felt comfortable, I can advise them.
Most cases it was some financial tidbit. The employee would remember a lot of discussion centered on this item (for example). So I would tell them bring copies of all communications, emails, etc regarding this. Bring copies of the bills in question. If you use bill pay, print the page showing bills paid. If you have one in dispute, bring any correspondence on that.
Put into a binder, use document protectors. Put best foot forward showing you are actively engaged on taking care of obligations.
In follow ups, the employees were very happy they followed my advice, said they could feel the tension leave as the adjudicator responded in the positive.
Sone times they just need see concrete evidence you followed through on an item. At times I even digitally scanned items and sent to the adjudicator.
The way the government lead explained. If poly released to adjudicator, it is a positive. They want to see proof an issue is not…an issue and they can capture it in writing, and push the clearance the through.
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Updating everyone who was waiting for it. I was not applying to a federal agency, it’s a research position affiliated with DoD (although not at DoD, just with them). “Red flags”: dual citizenship w/ an allied country, self-admitted marijuana usage in my past, lots and lots of foreign travel and contacts, and the biggest concern, self-admitting to continuing to break the law by drinking. I did revise my statement the next day saying I would stop drinking until I was 21, which I now plan to uphold. The institution was sponsoring me for a Secret clearance, and while I did not get interim cleared, I just got the news that I was fully cleared. Hope this gives some hope to those in a similar position that I was.
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Congrats. Now stick it out till 21.
Talking to my FSO tomorrow because I am concerned about whether or not I need to report that I have a fake ID… I mentioned it in my interview with the investigator, and I don’t believe she wrote it down, but I am certain I mentioned it. I did immediately cease usage once I became aware I was being considered for a clearance, but I’ve kept it as sort of a memento from my college days. Will my FSO give a sh1t/am I wasting his time? I’m pretty certain he’ll tell me to just shred it, but I guess I just want to be safe.